[LuvMyE92]

Originally Posted by jk3355

Just curious, what was the hit on the trade. Was it in the middle of a lease? i thought you loved the stick shift in this car.

It was a lease, and yes, I took a huge hit. Too embarrassed to tell you what it was. I decided that making those huge monthly payments while not enjoying the car was a waste of my money. I rationalized the loss by balancing the cost against freeing myself from the stress of dealing with the car, service issues and BMW. Life is too short.

The transmission was sublime, most of the time.

When I wrote the original post here I was pretty ticked-off at BMW for their inability or unwillingness to address my complaints. Some of the comments by others in this thread are off the mark - if you read what I said, you'll see that I still have my M5 and expect to own more BMWs in the future. Maybe I wasn't clear enough. This car was my ninth new BMW. I've also bought 5 used ones. And I've owned 7 BMW motorcycles. To accuse me of not being a BMW fan is unfair.

Probably the thing I disliked most about the car was the steering. This is where I think BMW is really going wrong. One of their strongest suits has always been the very communicative steering on their cars, and to lose that is a crime.

Stickypaws makes some good points, and like him I have also been a long-time Porsche owner. Nothing drives like a Porsche, and even with their current issues they still make great cars. However, the prices are just too high for me to consider them again.