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Originally Posted by basscadet
The M3 is a great compromise for the enthusiast who needs day-to-day utility. This is the "BMW value" that the OP speaks of. From the late 1980s until very recently if you needed to haul children, groceries, or put people in a back seat the M3 was the go-to car.
Infiniti made a run at BMW in the mid 2000s but seems to have given up the chase.
Now Cadillac, Ford, and Mercedes are in the chase. Are their offerings exactly the same as BMW's? No. But each of those 3 have cars that scratch an itch that only the M3 had been able to reach.
I just bought a CTS-V. Never in a thousand years did I think I would own a goddamned Cadillac. But it's an incredible car, there is little hope that a F8X M3/M4 can keep up with me either on a race track or at the dragstrip, especially if mods are on the table. And most importantly, it's fun to drive and has torque all over the place. Yes, it's ugly. Yes, it's American and doesn't have prestige. But I paid nearly half what a F80 will cost me for a car that is less than a year old with 10k miles.
I do think comparing a M3 to a GT3 is a little ridiculous as the GT3 gives up a ton of utility for driving pleasure and speed.
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Good post, and congrats on the car purchase. The CTS-V is a beast, and I'd love to own one someday.
With that said, if it's a track car you're looking for, I wouldn't be so sure about the CTS-V being better than the new M4 (although we won't really know how the M4 performs on track for several more months).
I'm sure it can put some fast laps down, but it doesn't make a great choice of track car for the same reason the M5 isn't a better option for a track car: weight. At 4250 lbs, the CTS-V will run through consumables (pads, tires) like nobody's business.
Even my E92 M3 at 3550 lbs is pushing the boundaries of acceptability (at least with my wallet). My next car needs to be lighter...