[epbrown]

Chrome seems to be making a comeback - there's some dealers in CA and TX that sell Z4s with the wheels chromed. Weird, but whatcha gonna do?

As for the car, the E46 M3 isn't a total nightmare, but the earliest years are problematic - BMW extended the factory warranty on the model to 6 years, 100,000 miles. To play it safe, I'd want one of the later ones with all the bug fixes and to have a warranty as long as possible.

Prices should be coming down (even on cabs) with the impending release of the E90 M3, so $40k seems a little high. Personally, I'm not a fan of the E46 cab - I like my convertibles to be designed that way. I was looking at getting an M3 myself last year, but since I didn't like the cab I split the money and bought my 325i and Z4. Of course, now they've got the Z4 M Roadster for people like me, but I'm happy with what I've got.