Sorry paramount, but all of those quotes does not describe a Secretariat. IIRC, Secretariat is a RACE horse. I.E. its sole purpose was to win races. Tell me one BMW that gets time faster than 7 minutes 41 seconds at the Nurburgring, then we can talk.
No one ever said, hey, Secretariat rides pretty smoothly. Secretariat earns its name because of its performance on the race track.
BMW have a well balanced machine. I don’t deny that, never did. But you need more than a well balance machine to dial up the fun factor and to be compared to Secretariat. BTW, just because BMW win accolades from magazines doesn’t mean it’s the best car for everyone. Not everyone want a car that’s just good every categories. Maybe they want exceptional or excellent in some categories in exchange for average/below average in others. I.E. I’d trade gas mileage for HP, braking and handling (G37 vs 328i). So, while the 328i might be the more “balanced” car, it’s not the best car on that list for me and those who want more fun at the cost of MPG.
Most BMW are moderately fun driving machine. But for a weekend car, sometimes, you need to dial back the practical and dial up the fun. In another word, more HP, better brakes, and better handling. A 328i is not what I’d call a fun car to drive. Sure, it’s more fun than a Camry/Accord, but it’s far down on the fun totem pole for me. So, while you’d suggest a used 7 series, I’d suggest a used M5. See where we differ in the definition of fun? I would never consider a 7 series to be a fun car to drive. Sure, it’s more fun than a S-class and A8, but it’s not nearly as fun as a M5, RS6, E63 AMG. To dial up the fun even more and dial back the practical, I’d rather have GT-R/ZR1/911 Turbo. This is not TG’s daily driver. It’s his weekend car.
