I am sitting in my room and wondering to myself -- does a single BMW designer ever wake up in the morning and say, 'Boy, I really feel like yellow today.' Anybody can spot a beamer from visible distance; they all look the same. The front grill gets taller, shorter, wider, thinner, but its always there. In every single model. All the time. Boring? Yes. Ugly? Nope. The BMW is a nice looking luxury vehicle for the middle class, always finding enough room in its saddle bag to squeeze in some performance for quick acceleration. The M3 belongs to a rare category -- its not a sporty luxury car, but rather a sports car with luxury.

I know, it doesn't seem too different from the other 3's, but just look at how low the car rides on those 17 inch rims. The infamous 6 cyl DOHC engine punches a decent 240HP on the 99 model, hardly spectacular looking at any other sports car in M's price range. The Corvette offers around 100 more horses. The new Honda S2000, costing less than the M3, boasts the same performance with its 4 cyl engine. But neither car offers the same level of 'luxury'. The back seats of the M3, although nothing like the 5's, aren't too bad and can even be called outstanding for a sports car. However, its still not too comfortable and I didn't like sitting in the back for more then 30 minutes. However, the front seats are impressive, as they keep your body comfortable and rigid in tight circumstances.

The defining quality of the M3 lies in its perfectly balanced chasis. I once took a ramp at 100MPH with a Corvette, and driving the beamer also gave me the assurance that I could do the same with this car. BMW doesn't suffer from as much oversteering as many other RWD vehicles. The characteristics are still there, but the car's slide almost resembles a 4WD racer. Its sweet and easily handled, unlike the Dodge Viper and the older model Corvette (the C5's are a whole different story).

Although the transmission was smooth, I ended up grinding the gears once. I have never owned an automatic, so doing something like this with a standard was kind of surprising. I don't know if it was my fault, but I recommend checking out the shifter on the M3. It might be a good idea to get an aftermarket shifter that will prevent grinding. The few hundred bucks spent on the shifter is nothing compared to changing a busted tranny, and with the high costs of replacement parts on German vehicles, I woudn't blink twice before checking this out if I were to buy the M3.