[lavaletta]

Originally Posted by HBspeed

The LS7 and LS9 engines are significantly and more advanced/capable than the LS3 engine, sorry. And no one ever said an M engine has to build totally from the ground up; the S54 wasn't and I've never heard anyone claim it's soulless or compared it to an "exacting vacuum." The N54 in the 1M has only additional cooling and a slight boost in tune.

I guess when you say go elsewhere while you guys enjoy your great cars, the E46 M3 in my avatar/garage apparently doesn't qualify as a great car for you and I am clearly biased against BMW.

No one is saying the 1M isn't an awesome little car. It's just not up to the standards many of us here hold BMW to for its focused M products, primarily in the engine department or the intangibles (emotion, occasion) which have been such a point of excellence in cars like the M3 or past M coupes.

Have you driven one?