Having read every possible word on the new M for the past few months, it was finally time to do the test drive. I the chance to drive both models back to back w/o any sales type along. Just here are the keys and go. No radio, no nav, nothing to blunt any driving impression.First drove the Sport, a beautiful Liquid Platium and Bourbon interior combo.The sreering is light pulling out of the lot, yet the car feels rock solid. Hit the first stoplight and ease it off on green.. feel the low end pull with only a touch of the gas..nice. Now on long open 4 lane road. Nail it the stoplight and run it up to 80. Feel like maybe mid 5's to 60. Enuf to push you pretty hard into the seat. Now going 65 or so do abrupt lane changes. Perfect..no sway, no roll, no kickback. Did 4 or 5 back to back. Like it. Turn around, accelerate to 80, jam the brakes w/o activating ABS, gives a straight, quick, uneventful stop.Easy drive back to dealer with air and seat coolers working. Gets cold fast.Pull back in and jump into the non sport, umbria grey, graphite car. Same route, same routine. Softer ride for sure, but not that much. The lane change test was not as crisp. You can really feel the difference between the 18's and the 19's on the Sport. Needless to say, acceleration and braking feel pretty much the same although the feel thru the sreering wheel felt more connected in braking in the Sport.A word on the seats, they are OK, not the most supportive. The side bolsters could be tighter (I'm 6' 180). Passenger seat felt hard and flat as well.Back seats are excellent, lots of head, foot and knee room. After sitting in the back seat of an IS350, this is heaven.Coupla other points...Get the space saver spare: adds 6" to depth of trunk.Someone mentioned problem getting dipstick back after checking oil. Not a problem. It's right up in front right..easyI'll probably end up with the Sport but not before driving the MB C55 which will be at the dealers next week.BTW, both of these M's had over 500 miles on the OD, so I didn't feel bad about hitting them hard. If I buy a car it will not be a demo however.This is a great site. Will let you all know what i decide on.

First, welcome to the M admirers club

It was impressive to hear the play-by-play. I personally never drove the M45... I knew that if I did, I'd be hooked for the HP alone. Getting the M35x was a practical decision for me. Snow country in the winter + lots of road travel = AWD and lower HP. Different strokes for different folks.

Minor nitpick: I may be mistaken, but the dipstick problem was related to the M35, not the 45.

Re the M35 dipstick. I did look at but didn't pull it out. It was right up front but maybe in a little tighter than the 45. Thanks for picking that up.Forgot to mention about the 45 wheels. Most of the cars this dealer had had chrome wheels. All done by outside vendor. Said their cost was $700/set and thou the factory would supply chromes on the 18" non sport, they wouldn't supply chromes on the 19". Also, which I can understand, they can't put the 19's on the non Sport carsAnother thing I found strange was the color choices. The wheat leather is n/a on any Sport and the stone is n/a on the non Sport. Dealer had no idea why