In late 2005, I was earning piles of money and realized that a new E46 M3 was well within my reach. But when I started shopping them and quickly realized that I was looking at northward of $60k for one with a few essential options, I balked. The E90 sedan had just come out, so I looked into it and decided it was a much more economical way to get into a nice BMW, and factory-ordered one equipped exactly as I wanted. What I did NOT know at the time was the existence of the ZHP coupe, which was still available for almost another full year. Not sure I would have gone that route as the brand new-ness of the E90 was enticing (the new Logic7 sound system was orders of magnitude better than the crappy H/K setup in the E46, for example), but I'm guessing that I would have. I've always been coupe-hatchback guy, with exactly 2 of my 25 or so cars owned in my lifetime having more than 2 doors (and exactly none at this point having an automatic transmission, a streak I will continue to keep intact).
2 years ago I came full circle and fell for the ZHP, and was able to find the perfect example within a month of starting my search. It wasn't cheap, and I had to schlep it across the country from Florida, but it has been well worth it. With another S54-equipped car already in the garage, it's the perfect daily driver companion - no need for an M3 in my case, the ZHP is perfection for my needs.
'21 M2 Competition
'08 Z4 M Coupé
'19 Golf R