|
Coming from a Mk V VW Golf GTi, but that's a bit disingenuous...
In the UK I've had an M Coupe, two e46 M3s (one a manual - lovely, the other an SMG - horrid) and a Porsche 993 Turbo S.
In Israel I tended towards 4wd cars - so I had a '99 Impreza GT Turbo and a Porsche Cayenne Turbo (first Gen). I downscaled to the Golf during the last recession - things got so bad here that in the Porsche I was being stopped at traffic lights by people looking for investments to save their businesses. Cars are very very expensive here (~100% tax), so cars in the 1M's caliber and up are relatively rare; thankfully the economy seems to have taken 2008 in its stride...
The Golf actually turned out to be a great car in many ways: not least the size (Tel-Aviv is a city of tiny streets with millions of people illegally parked), and the practicality. What I didn't like was the FWD, and the turbo four-pot. So, having loved my M cars the 1M was a no-brainer - it mixed everything I wanted (RWD, 6-cylinder, manual) with the size and practicality that I loved. That it is being hailed as the reincarnation of the M Coupe (by far the best car I've owned) is only the icing on the cake.
I had to do a lot of nagging and convincing at BMW - I started six months before the official announcement - but finally they managed to secure a single car for Israel, and it should be arriving in port in less than 48 hours!
|