[dradernh]

Originally Posted by MasterFloody

This thread has been an emotional roller coaster. The ending is super harsh.
Basically the TL;DR is "Buy a Miata."
OUCH!
But seriously, thank you OP. Being a fairly new M240i owner, I take much away from this thread and I appreciate your sacrifice.
As an xdrive owner, I am sort of scared how much worse it can be to track it often.

Find the hardcore track rats at your local circuit, ask them which car gives the best bang for the buck, and the answer you'll most often hear is 'Miata'.

On a more interesting note, if you take your car to a handling track, run as hard as you can, and then look up the Spec Miata record, you may find yourself asking: "How do they do that!?!" They're not exactly slow around the high-speed tracks, either.

Our cars aren't particularly suited to going fast around circuit tracks. Their weight alone is a handicap that can't be overcome, and weight is the primary enemy of lapping quickly. As far as going fast on the straights goes, the fun and the challenge is in the braking zones and the corners. Nevertheless, circuit tracks are fun in anything that's running, so I'd urge you to sign up for an HPDE with one of your local clubs (BMWCCA clubs have excellent instruction for novice drivers). The Tracking / Autocross subforum has useful information on how to get your car ready for an event. Autocross is worth checking out as well.