Rain turned out to be a good thing. Wisconsin’s Road America circuit, located smack in the middle of the doorway to beautiful Door County, was soaking wet from unrelenting showers, and the wind cleaved a chilly swath across the rolling hills of America’s Dairyland. Three BMW M Coupes idled in pit row, waiting for journalists possessing widely varying levels of skill to whip them around the four-mile road course. At the end of the day, not one of them was lost.

That is pure testament not only to the effectiveness of stability control and the importance of a 50.2/49.8 front-to-rear weight distribution, but also to how easy it is to feed the new 2006 BMW M Coupe fine inputs, and have it respond exactly as anticipated. Driving hard and fast in the rain heightens the senses, requires added concentration, and demands smooth shifting, steering, and throttle input. Under these conditions, ham-fisted and -footed driving usually results in a slide or a spin. Since most drivers cannot meet such requirements corner after corner, lap after lap, a street car also must be forgiving enough to accommodate missteps without threatening to turn sheet metal into scrap metal, or pilots into patients.

Driving on the track, the M Coupe was quick in the rain, and the DSC/ABS systems helped keep the slithering sports car aimed toward the next apex rather than the Armco. Obviously, we cannot assess grip due to the wet track conditions, though the summer performance tires did a dandy job of battling the elements. Likewise, since we didn’t punish the brakes or suspension, it’s impossible to determine how this car might fare on a warm, sun-dazzled track. However, note that the standard brake drying system, which intermittently puts the pads in contact with the rotors to squeeze moisture out for maximum braking capability in foul weather, worked brilliantly. We never felt the pads being applied, and we never lacked for bite diving down into one of Road America’s 90-degree turns. Finally, the M Coupe’s steering is a huge improvement over the electrically-assisted Z4, letting the driver place the car exactly where he wants it. This is a confidence-inspiring ride in unfavorable conditions – we just wish we could tell you what it’s like to drive in the dry.

One thing is certain: this 3.2-liter inline six is gorgeous – smooth, refined, subtle yet prodigiously powered. And it sounds terrific. Connected to a fluid six-speed manual that slips into each gear with a rubbery pop, the M Coupe really moves. Launching the car in first gear can be a little tricky, since the clutch take-up is abrupt, but once underway and accelerating hard it’s easy to snap off quick shifts. The pedals are set up for easy heel-and-toe action – action we’ve never quite mastered.

BMW provides a visceral driving experience in the 2006 M Coupe due to engine roar, road noise, a tight suspension, and hyper-sensitive steering. Traveling over Wisconsin’s expansion joints, the M Coupe sounded like a freight train rolling at speed: clickety-clack, clickety-clack. Traveling over Wisconsin’s lumpy country roads proved the M Coupe’s ride to be rough and choppy. The M Coupe’s engine-speed sensitive hydraulic steering is a huge improvement over the Z4, connected to a thick, meaty steering wheel that people with smaller hands might not like to grip. The stout brakes respond instantly and let the driver squeeze exact amounts of pressure to the binders.

Buy a 2006 BMW M Coupe because you love to drive, not because you love to be seen in it, since there are significant downsides to purchasing a purpose-built sports car. For example, getting into and out of the M Coupe is difficult. The sills are high, the seats are low, the greenhouse is squat, and the bolsters want to either hold you in the car or block access to it. Once inside, the seats are hard, confining, and tight, pinching middle-American middles. The extended thigh supports are nice, and you can find a good driving position, but the M Coupe doesn’t strike us to be a good cross-country touring machine. Plus, outward visibility is terrible. The side mirrors are oddly shaped and the upper edge of the rear window blocks distance viewing, allowing a patrol car to pace the M Coupe undetected – better get a Valentine One. The M Coupe’s nose is long, with plenty of it sitting in the driver’s lower field of vision, and because of the thick rear pillars and bulky seat backrests, reversing takes more than an ounce of faith.

Regardless of a few shortcomings, perhaps the best thing about the M Coupe is that it’s not overloaded with BMW technology. There’s no iDrive. There’s a normal turn signal stalk. The shifter operates intuitively, though it’s easy to accidentally engage reverse gear if you’re not paying attention. There aren’t a million different fine-tuned programs to select, tweak, disengage, and understand only after consulting a thick manual. The 2006 BMW M Coupe is a simple machine, built purely for speed, and that alone makes it worth investigation.