I was just going to post this. It's not at all unusual. Facebook's IPO was similar - no matter how much public stock is out there, Mark Zuckerberg has iron-clad control of the company. The Quandts have a similar arrangement over at BMW, and the Porsche and Piech families at VW/Porsche. Not all stock is created equal.

I daily drive my '74 Spitfire in the summer, and I am really daily driving my 15yo Range Rover this winter due to the appalling weather lately in the NE. I'm currently nearly 300 miles from home in it on a work trip to eastern Maine. I figure the Rover gets about a 2X age factor due to it being a Rover. :-) Both are…

Yeah, I do - I have a fair bit of seat time in one, including autocrossing it. If I could still buy a NEW 1M for what they sold for in 2011, I probably would, I think they were a decent deal. I just can't see paying new car money for one well used. Fantastic car, enjoy it! And don't sell it to CarMax! :-)

Smoking was allowed only in a special smoking room that was sealed off. Smoking and hydrogen do not mix well.

To be fair, the 5 GT is a 5-series in name only. It is much more closely related to the 7-series, and it a larger car than the 5-series sedan or wagon.

An added advantage - in this age of every sedan needing to have stupid swoopy rooflines, access to the back seat in them is awful. The roof and door opening curves down such that if you are over 5' tall you either whack your head getting in or have to fold yourself in half. Wagons generally have nice square door…

Nice! And glad they have entered the 21st century!

The other Germans will build you what you want, though you still have to go through a dealer. That is much less of a hardship with the better brands, they generally know how to do business properly. My BMW dealer is fantastic, and has now given me two great deals on Euro Delivery special order cars.

Is VW actually allowing you to order a car these days? Or is it just telling the dealer what you want and having to wait for VW to bother to build and send one like it? When I last bought a new VW, an '02 Golf GLS TDI, VW did not allow orders, and Golf TDIs were scarcer than hen's teeth at dealers. I had to settle for…

States vary widely and wildly in how difficult this is. For anything 1994 and older, Maine requires nothing but an insurance card and a Bill of Sale for registration. That Bill of Sale can be handwritten on the back of a used napkin. And money, of course. If your car is not in "The Book" that they use to look up…

Hmm, tell that to the folks on the 737s that crashed in Pittsburgh and Colorado Springs due to the rudder "hard over" issue back in the day... Those crashes are a big part of the reason that even the re-designed rudder actuator system on the 737 gets extra scrutiny.

I don't completely disagree, the 1-series probably should have had a cheaper 4cyl option as a differentiator. But I think calling it 1/3 less car is a bit harsh. It had a smaller back seat, and a bit less available equipment, but it was also a lot more fun. Much more in the spirit of the older e30 0r e46 3-series than…

I have a Range Rover that is older and higher mileage than Doug's. And a model that is considered LESS reliable than his - an '01 HSE 4.6 with 144K on it now. I have spent a fraction of what he has in repairs. He is intentionally using the most expensive possible means of repair to prove a point. To the point where he…

I think the F3X is a win some/lose some. I agree that the interior is a little less nice in base trim. But it is also usefully bigger, and I actually like the new iDrive setup a lot. The feel IS softer - I would want sport line on the new car where I did not feel it was necessary on the E9x. I find the 2.0T to be a…

Actually, yes, I did. Yesterday, 4:16pm. Written on my Nexus 7 from the bar at the PHL Admiral's Club, to be extremely precise about it.

I find that the M235i steering harkens back to the E30 - relatively light and precise. I have a RWD E91 and I feel the steering is heavy just for the sake of being heavy. There is no real feel there either, and it makes the car feel less agile than it should. I do think that the e46 had an edge in overall feel vs. the…

As I mentioned previously, yes I have. I think the 1M is a great car, just not one worth this kind of money at this age and mileage. This money for a pampered low-mileage example - MAYBE. Not to me, but to a collector perhaps.

You were not alone in that thinking...

The answer to that is the same as with every other engine ever made - how deep are your pockets? It will go until you run out of money.

I suggest you drive both and make up your own mind. I agree the 1M is a great car, but it just isn't this sort of money great at 4 years old and 57K miles. The folks who bought them new really scored, but not so much as a relatively high-mileage used car for nearly the same price as new.