I think the 330 will be terrific, too. But the pos (archive)

: 1. Won't we be hopefully hearing from the first European customers or American's residing in Europe ? I was expecting to hear initial impressions from them.

Yes, those early European impressions will be useful.

: 2. Someone mentioned official specs will be available at the Geneva show or at least by the time the European's place their orders; I assume that would include tire size and the nature of the suspension, basic performance tests, est. MPG, etc and gearing. What other technical data, if any, would you still need to feel comfortable about ordering? (I am not writing to be provocative, just to inform my own decision making process)

I don't think technical data, per se, is going to be decisive for me. I mean, we all know this car's going to be FAST and is going to have big rubber and is going handle fantastically. But I'll be watching for comments such as "great both for a blast on backwoods roads and as a commuter", or "road noise was well controlled, and Rachmaninoff's 2nd Piano Concerto was still wonderful even at 80mph on Interstate 70", or "communicates clearly with the driver, but doesn't scream at him". And I plan on asking the early purchasers on this message board lots of questions about the car.

I'd also like to ride in (if not actually test drive) the car. Unfortunately, very few of us will get an opportunity to test drive the car. So I'm going to try to locate a local buyer (I'm in the D.C. area) who's willing to give me a demonstration ride.

: I have the 328i which is terrific but the idea of an m3 is intriguing and an adventure. I don't want BMW to go overboard with this either, in price or in "off road" specs, and if they do I will just keep my 328i, for a long time.

The bottom for me will be, if the plusses substantially outweight the negatives, I'll be apt to purchase an M3.

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