Encouraged by 2 things I saw in Road and Track regarding BMW

in an article on x5 4.6is, the manager for X and 5 series vehices Martin Birkmann is quoted regarding why BMW didn't badge the truck as an M:
"It just did not feel right..it did not deliver the right driving experience"..adding that M badged vehicles are rear-drive only and have manual transmissions and have their torque peaks shifted nearer to redline" Its good to see that BMW still has some integrity and doesn't yet feel right slapping an M badge on anything that moves w/ a big engine. This is a nice contrast to Mercedes AMG line where they HAVE done that.

The other positive item was a computer enhanced photo and description of the Z5. They're targeting 220 pounds, are building the engine out of fiber reinforced magnesium and are targeting a price of under 30k! The blurb also mentions that BMW marketing people would like to slap a straight 6 into the car (as opposed to the 4), but that this would upset the balance and point of the car (a light sports car w/ an excellenet power to weight ratio). The icing on the cake is that the xomputer enhanced photo was not Banglefied. If the computer photo is somewhat accurate, this car sounds great-- souds like exactly what many on this board would love. TD may soon be able to buy a car to replace his M3.

All of this positive news was mostly offset by the queasy feeling I got looking at the 7 series ad in the front of the magazine.