(which always rewards boring and mundane) claim that the e39 was the best sedan that had ever reviewed....of all time.

Then Audi started taking risks. And Mercedes dropped it's 'old man shtick'.

Heck, you even have Lexus playing aggressive now.

And what does BMW do? Well, first they drop all their 2-door vehicles, then drop the manual transmission. They had a GREAT chance to set themselves apart from the masses and retain and build upon their "Ultimate Driving Machine" identity.

Now, I would honestly consider Lexus or Mercedes before BMW. And I would consider myself at one-point a die-hard BMW enthusiast. Now, I feel Lexus offers me better all value, and Mercedes has styling edge. BMW offers me nothing.

It's a shame. They sell twice as many individual car and SUV models than they did in the early 2000s, yet the ONLY model that really interests me is the unattainable i8. Maybe the Z4.....but I'd probably take the re-badged Supra over it too.