Whichever the last M5 to have the I6 is my favorite M model. It outpowered most if not all V8s sold on the U.S. market at the time. Awesome.

M

Their choice of top three seems about right. My personal top three would be the E30, the E34 and the E39, though.

That is quite right,my friend..E30 and E34 were rule-breakers and something completley new to automotive world at that time..these cars shaped my views about cars in general and main reason why iI admire BMW more than other carmakers.M letter in BMW´s world(and mine ) stands for magic .

I'm a big fan of the E36 with its inline six engine. It changed the way the world looked at sports cars and super cars. In its day it looked the biz, had phenomenal firepower and top end and still outhandled anything else anywhere near its price range.

The E30 may have been the purist's M3 but it was the E36 that put the icon on the map. Of course, as you'll read elsewhere on this forum the E46 CSL is my pinnacle M car and I have fond recollection and respect for the fabulously muscular E39.