drove one today also. 1 word.. Torquey. Pulls like a freight train from 1300 on til redline and definitely does feel more like a V8. Still think the styling is a little plain but the car is wide and has a nice stance to it. The gear box is solid and throws are fairly short and not clunky like the M coupe/M roadsters. Overall, a very refined package. The demo that I drove was MSRP'ed at 50K though. For a daily driver the gas mileage and the torque can't be beat and IMO, is a better buy than the E46 M3.

to answer xx3's question, it has a throaty exhaust note similar to the 330i's but the turbo's a super quiet and you cannot even hear them spool.