The E36 was a huge moment for me; I had a poster of that car up on my wall as a teenager. The engine, the sound, it’s ability to rev, it was the best car experience I’d had and at 20 years old, I felt invincible on the road

A colleague had a 328i Sport which he’d modified (throttle body, Gruppe M intake). I always thought that car was the sweet spot - most of the performance without all the cost.
The E39 was a similar point in my car ownership journey; I remember seeing Tiff Needel review it on TopGear and trying to get my Dad to trade up from his 525i sport. Sadly to no avail. In many ways I still think this model of M5 was the best one; not too big, n.a. 5.0 V8 which sounded amazing and a manual gearbox. It looked good and was a lovely place to be. I wish I’d kept both the M3 and M5 to this day.
The F90 was really nice too, quite similar to the E39 in my eyes, but unfortunately although it went like a rocket, it was heavy, very quiet and I often felt a bit insulated from the driving experience - you didn’t feel like you were going fast until you hit very illegal speeds.
I’m many ways I think of the G80 as a mini version of the F90. Similar Xdrive system and gearbox, comfortable with a good quality interior, good torque for cruising motorways and serious urge when you want it. The F90 is the better car for driving distance everyday, however the G80 will handle better and be suited to hustling down B-roads and doing laps on the track. There’s a bit more drama to the G80, so it’s more fun imo. An M5 Comp might be more fun again, but I think it loses a bit of what makes the standard M5 so good as an every day car.
It’s not new being a ‘23 car, but it’s got very low miles and is immaculate in every way. I was quite lucky to find it. I will get it PPFed and ceramic coated soon to hopefully keep it that way.
Have you any plans for yours?