man i lost alot of respect and "passion" for the BMW line of cars. i mean, have you guys seen the new M5 design? the 5 series was ugly enough already. The specs for M5 are pretty impressive, but it's so damn ugly from the outside i would not drop $70k-80k on the M5 (or even more).
The current M3 i think is one of the most desirable cars around $50k or less. Man, if i had the money i'd get the currrent M3 before the (most likely) ugly as hell new M3 rolls in.
i agree with the above opinion, i think BMW and even mercedes are overrated. it still have the prestige and all, but reliability sucks. i had a friend w/ a bimmer and he said after 1 yr, his car was in the dealer about every month for repairs!

and the repair costs are sky high (after the warrenty expires).