[mb135is]

Well this is great news for BMW enthusiasts, and it flies in the face of what is perceived to be the "direction" of the brand. Good job, BMW. I hope this is all true and that people will be able to shell out less than $50k for great performance. Once upon a time the E46 M debuted @ around $50k; I know this is not an accurate comparison, but my point is that they're moving everything up-market and potentially leaving us with limited-quantity special editions (1M). This makes it seem like they're going to make an actual car that people can actually buy without paying a markup or selling a child.

I second the question of someone above whose response to this car going around the ring faster than a 1M: who cares? Let's put our keyboard manhood away and think about what we really want in a car: an involving sports car that communicates the road to the driver and evinces the "freude am fahren" BMW engineering language of old.

Hopefully they'll have mastered the electric steering by the time this car comes out via software updates. Hopefully they'll make auto start stop an option. Hopefully they'll offer a model without drive mode selections. Hopefully the nav screen will not be mandatory. If all of that is true along with what's posted above, well then I'd have to seriously consider making my 1 a 2!

Pie in the sky wish that will never happen: they take this optional LSD and make it available for all E82 models, sort of like adding a PPK.