My apologies for the lack of updates. My new coupe arrived safe and sound on Thursday at 1 PM. I’ve been driving it about every free moment since including a 4:30-6:30 AM drive through local canyons the following morning. I think it’s even better than I ever imagined it could be. I’m very glad I held out for just the right one. I can’t stop staring at it and look for excuses to sneak out to the garage. It was definitely worth the wait!

The saga continues… Monday afternoon I received word from the dealership owner that the truck was fixed and headed this way. The driver called and said he planned to drive as far as possible Monday night, hit it hard on Tuesday, and should be here by Wednesday. It’s not going to happen, but it’s not really his fault this time. He just called to let me know a couple hours ago he was randomly selected for an Inspection 2 at a weigh station in Iowa and they found a couple minor things he has to fix before they’ll let him continue. He said things should be straightened out soon, and he’ll be on his way again.

The following story may be hard to fathom, but believe me, I’m not creative enough to make it up. It all started when an independent transport driver, contracted in the past by the dealership I bought my coupe from, overheard them saying they needed to get a car out to Colorado. He told them he could pick it up as soon as it was ready and could do it cheaper since he was headed this direction anyway. The dealer knew my budget was stretched and I wanted it as soon as possible(we split the shipping cost 50:50). They knew and trusted the driver from past experiences but because it was a long trip verified his insurance through the VIN number on his truck, double-checked that his license was up to date, etc. and everything checked out fine.

Although Justin Cornelison is from my neck of the woods, he’s currently working in Dubai which gives him access to the U.S. forbidden, S50-engined M Coupe. Here’s his comparison of his recently purchased coupe to the E39 M5 he previously owned:

First off, where do I start? These are two completely different cars, with two completely different purposes. I am fortunate enough to have owned both cars (separately), first the M5, now the M Coupe.

Don Eilenberger has had the fortune to own some very nice cars over the years including his current S54 M Coupe. These include a Volvo P1800, a Jaguar XKE Roadster, an E36 M3, and an E46 M3 convertitble. Here's how he thinks they compare to his coupe.

Taka recently purchased (stole) this beautiful black sapphire metallic 2001 M Coupe and is fortunate to also own a 2005 Corvette in millenium yellow. In his words, here’s how they compare:

The Corvette is a lot of fun to drive, but in a very different way. I think the car is more suited to use at a road course, especially if it’s not too tight, so you can really stretch the car’s legs and use that V-8 for what it’s worth. It’s definitely a lot faster than the M- having another 85 hp and only 200 lbs. would do that. My car has long tube headers, exhaust and will eventually have an intake and a tune, so I’d say it probably has a tad more than 400hp- I could feel the difference in power output even with the stock tune when I added the headers. I also never had traction issues with the stock manifolds (esp. with 305 Bridgestone RE-11), but I do now that I have the headers installed.