Some random thoughts on mine on the various topics here:
a) As a driving enthusiast, there are some options that are essentials and some that are a waste of money. While fulfilling the needs that only a sedan can, it's still absolutely mandatory that the car be fun to drive. So we ordered a 328i Sportline plus SAT and HIDs. Coral Red leather was our one concession to luxury. To get a G37 Sedan with the Sport Package requires getting the Premium and Navigation packages, neither which we would have wanted, putting it significantly more expensive than our 328i. (Which we took possession off two days ago and love it so far.)
b) "Wealthy" is relative. To the homeless person, the folks living in Section 8 are wealthy. To those people, people who live paycheck to paycheck but otherwise on their own is wealthy. To those people, people with enough income to contribute to savings, investments and luxuries are wealthy. To those people, people who can effect careers of large amounts of people, change entire large corporations, make national headlines, and influence entire nations, are wealthy.
c) Per 2011 US Census data, median household income was $50,054 (
http://www.census.gov/prod/2012pubs/p60-243.pdf) and mean household income was $69,677 (
http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/cpstables/032012/hhinc/hinc06_000.xls) In other words (Read
http://www.diffen.com/difference/Mean_vs_Median for mean vs. media) fully half of US households (a household is all people living at a single address, on average 2.59 people
http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-14.pdf) make less than $50,054. That's income for all 2.59 people combined.
d) So where does that put somebody who just purchased a $40k or $50k BMW? I've read numerous discussions on car forums about how much car somebody "should" buy, and there's no consensus. Everybody's situation is different. But a general rule of thumb I've read is that a car payment should be 8% to 11% of our gross monthly income. So for our $50,054 household, they're looking at a payment of $333 to $458 per month. At 3.0% interest over 60 months and 6% sales tax, that's a total purchase price of $17,483 to $24,046. A new BMW, at any price, is simply
unavailable for over half of the US regardless of how much they save. Conversely, anybody who purchases a new BMW has significantly more income than half of the nation. (Or are stretching themselves financially to a dangerous degree. There's a reason the terms "credit-card millionaire" and "$30,000 millionaire" exist.) This doesn't even touch upon the belief that some have that "if you can't pay cash for a car, you can't afford it." That would imply an even greater amount of income, to be able to save that much and mark it as disposable on a depreciating asset.
e) DFW is a very car-centric area. With the economic situation in many areas around here, I've called the 3-series "The Civic of Dallas" due to its commonality. (The same applies to Lexus - when I notice and count the number of black ISes I see in a single evening, the amount is staggering.) Similarly, I call the Bentley Continental "The Civic of Preston Hollow." For a $200k car, they're surprisingly common. (Note that this point in no way diminishes my point about the wealth required to purchase a new 3-series.)
f) I make no claim whatsoever to know what a typical BMW owner, or a typical non-BMW owner, feels about the economic situation of BMW owners.