BMW 3 Series E90 M3

The fourth-generation M3 did something the badge had never done before and has never done since. It showed up with a V8. From 2007 to 2013 you could have it as the E90 sedan, E92 coupe, or E93 folding-hardtop convertible, and beneath that bulging hood lived the S65, a 4.0-liter naturally aspirated V8 that BMW basically created by lopping two cylinders off the M5's V10. It revved to 8,400 rpm & ran individual throttle bodies, so at low rpm it sounds like a beefy muscle car, but near redline its more like a screaming race car.

This was a car of firsts and lasts. First M3 offered with a dual-clutch gearbox (a 7-speed DCT, sold alongside a proper 6-speed manual), first available in three body styles at once, and the last to breathe without a turbocharger. The track-only GTS and the sedan-only CRT pushed it further still, with 4.4 liters and 444 hp.

There is one large asterisk every shopper learns about fast: the S65's rod bearings. Budget for them, have them done, keep the oil fresh. Do that and the reward is one of the great engines of its decade in a car that has quietly turned into a bargain. A clean V8 M3 now sells for less than plenty of forgettable used crossovers, which feels like a pricing error nobody has corrected yet.