Red - I had an E30 and an E36 325is. BMW lost me with the E46 cars, just refined all the fun out of them in my opinion. I like the MS3's "visceral" driving experience by comparison.
An E30 - cool! What'd that weigh? 2800 lbs or less?
I had a "roundel" magazine subscription for a bit and tons of folks were saying the same - the E46 was the start of the bloat and a lot wanted off the boat.
Every new 3-series since the E36 has come out with more grunt from nearly the same displacement but then you'd see the car was 300-400 lbs heavier and even more expensive.
"uh, thanks?" was always the feeling I had.
Visceral is a good description for our cars.
here's one other +... (no I'm not a fan-boy for our cars, but while were on the subject of +'s...)
everyone had something to prove when I was driving my red 4-door 325...
mini-vans, trucks, other sedans, sports compacts...
I know all of us BMW lovers are considers A$$holes, but after 3 years of driving it (and it was 16 years old when I sold it for nearly what I bought it for), I think I understand why - people just don't like people that drive nice cars in a sporty manner. they act like its a rub on them at every single turn.
Frankly I couldn't wait to get rid of the thing just so that every damn stop-light wasn't some social-ranking contest.
f-ing ridiculous.
The thing I love most about the MS3's has got to be that most people drive normally around it. Most people don't care or notice that is says mazdaspeed3 on the back in little letters.
often, the one's that do just look and see that I'm middle-age and don't even care to race me or go for "the kill"...
it kicks when it needs to and otherwise stays undercover.
good stuff.
