I had a 1996 BMW M3 and loved it. It meets all of your crieria and then some. 240hp/3000lbs and about a 5.6sec 0-60. Perfect 50/50 weight balance and totally neutral steering. You can take your hands off the wheel at 125mph and it tracks right down the road. You can pick one of these up in great condition with low miles in the low 20's right now.

Please consider a used car. Let somebody else take the huge depreciation hit. No offense intended toward those who like used cars. I've had them too. I guess I'm at that point in my life where it isn't so important to me, but my view is just that: mine.

A word of warning: I had the M3 for 3 years and the next thing I knew my insurance was $7685 for 6 months. It is a very fast car, but it is so refined that 100mph *feels* like about 65mph in another car. I got a few tickets... OK, and a couple of arrests...

Others on the BBS have their empegs installed in this car, too.

I'm now driving a Volvo 245 (wagon). I got it used for $8k and have put over 90k miles on it. Solid, reliable transportation, but not near the fun of the M3.

My next car will be a Mercedes E-Class wagon 4-Matic. This is a $60k car that you can get with very reasonable miles for about $30-32k. If it isn't fast, I want it to be big and utilitarian. I made a promise to myself years ago that small/fast and big/slow are OK, but small/slow I would never do again. If I spring for the E430 (hard to find in a wagon), it won't be slow anyhow. I just wish the 5 speeds were available in the US. I despise automatics, which is why I haven't quite made the jump to the MB.

Used is the ticket.

Jim