Analysis - Why the BMW E92 M3 is a Huge Let Down

The best two M3's were the first generation and the E46 M3. The reason why is at the time, they had absolutely no competitors for the price (at least in the USA, since the GT-R still destroyed M3's everywhere else). The E46 M3, when released in 2001 not only looked FAR better than all other E46's, it performed head and shoulders above them as well. They absolutely crushed all their competition at their price. But now, BMW has a huge problem. The first is internal. BMW is now trying to sell 100,000 M3's a year by their own words, and you can't do this without diluting ///M the brand. They had to soften it from the previous gen, and although its a great car, its a compromise between luxury and track performance. It absolutely is NOT a track car. Its just another car you can take to the track. Also, now you have other problems in that the Audi RS4 can go toe to toe with the M3, and the brand new Nissan GT-R absolutely destroys it at the same price on any field anywhere regardless of the test. The M3 has been dethroned. And this is coming from someone who has a E46 and E93. Face it, the legend of the M3 is just history now. BMW has resorting to allow the ///M to stand for MARKETING instead of motorsport now.