Why do people always say cars like these wouldn't be cross-shopped?? When I was prepping to buy a new car, both the M3 and the Mustang GT were on my list. When it was announced that the 5.0 would be returning for the '11 model year, that pretty much sealed the deal for me! In the end, I wound up buying a 2011 GT500. I currently still have my '08 BMW 550i Sport w/ manual tranny. I'll be dumping it in a couple months, and I don't foresee me having any regrets about it.
And I must say that I've driven the (newer) M3 several times and it is a phenomenal vehicle. However, IMO, it's not phenomenal enough to justify its price premium over the new Mustang GT especially considering it has "inferior" overall performance to the GT. And for the money spent, I now have a 550HP/510TRQ car with equal or better track performance for a good $10K less than a somewhat comparably equipped 414HP/289TRQ M3. A lot would still say that's money wasted on a "Mustang," but to me, in the grand scheme of things, it was money well spent versus what BMW has to offer for the same money, i.e. a well equipped 335i or possibly a Z4 (which I am not a fan of at all.)
And I must say that I've driven the (newer) M3 several times and it is a phenomenal vehicle. However, IMO, it's not phenomenal enough to justify its price premium over the new Mustang GT especially considering it has "inferior" overall performance to the GT. And for the money spent, I now have a 550HP/510TRQ car with equal or better track performance for a good $10K less than a somewhat comparably equipped 414HP/289TRQ M3. A lot would still say that's money wasted on a "Mustang," but to me, in the grand scheme of things, it was money well spent versus what BMW has to offer for the same money, i.e. a well equipped 335i or possibly a Z4 (which I am not a fan of at all.)