Right, so I met up with the bloke who has an E36 BMW and wants a Mazda RX7 twin turbo. Drove both back to back (we both did) and it does leave me in a bit of a quandary.
The RX7 is probably slightly faster, more raw in its feedback and possibly more involving, but also a lot more tiring to drive. The M3 is smoother, more quiet despite an aftermarket induction kit (a proper one, not a filter that sucks in hot air from the engine bay) & exhaust and more refined but it doesn't seem to have quite the same racetrack refugee feeling to it. Trouble is, do I need another racetrack refugee or don't I?
Anyway, the mini-review. No cup holders and I didn't try to find out if the dash was soft-touch or not. Pretty quiet and refined and pulls hard all the way up the rev counter, the limiting factor being limited talent and too many coffin dodgers on the road. Build quality seems OK (certainly less rattly than the RX7 interior-wise), feedback is OK and the suspension is reasonably compliant given that it's running Leda suspension all around. Guess that sorted out the rattles that these things are prone to as well...
The quandary - head says the RX7 has to go sooner or later because I can't take it with me to the US anyway, and an E36 M3 is easier to flog than an M3. Heart says, I'd probably want to keep the RX7 even though I shouldn't, but I may get really shafted when I have to sell it quickly... Oh, and the additional benefit of the M3 is that I can most likely flog the A8 as it does have four reasonable seats and enough boot space, even though it doesn't have both at the same time.
What says the panel?