When I got home from Afghanistan, I had 3 cars on my list to check out. One call to the Nissan dealer told me I wasn't getting a GT-R, so I moved on to target the M3 and IS-F. All the magazine articles pointed toward the M3 as being the "clear" winner, but I own an '00 323i and have had nothing but issues with it, so I was skeptical about reliability. I called the Lexus dealership and they met me at the door with the keys to an IS-F. I was thoroughly impressed by the IS-F despite its documented shortcomings. I figured I would give M3 a shot to impress me, so I headed to the dealership. All the BMW salesmen would not shut up about how exclusive the car was, that it was built by hand, yadda, yadda... I went to three BMW dealerships and not one would let me drive the car for one reason or another. The rest is history. I ended up with what I feel is a far superior car overall, built by a legendary manufacturer, backed by superior customer service, and followed by a great group of enthusiasts.