[JustinDetail]

First off, congrats on being financially responsible in your life (so it sounds), and I hope the retirement works as well as you have planned it to be. :thumbsup

As mentioned previously, bimmerforums.com is a great site with tons of info, just ignore all the kiddies with modded E36's that clutter the site....it was *much* better 5 years ago. I know the 1 series is getting a bit of heat for its interesting design hehe, but I think a 128i set up the way you want it would be a fantastic car for you for many years. That silky smooth 230hp, 7K redline I6 is a nice one for that size a car. Then of course you have the twin turbo 135i, satans little stepchild. hehe That is one fast machine, but it's hard for me to justify low 40's with a few options, when a nice 10K mile 05-06 M3 can be had for the same (a much better overall car, being an ///M and all). Good luck with your choices, if you have any BMW questions, feel free to ask me, I've been around them all my life, having owned 7 myself and the below some that my family had when I was a little tike.
-2002tii, E28 M5, (3) E30 M3's, E36 M3, E30 325is, E24? gray market 7 series, E46 M3, etc, etc