My tuppence worth; had a test drive in a Boxster a while ago, thought it was very competent and dull as ditchwater. About the same time I test drove a Z4 3.0, found it less dull mainly because it wasn't as competent but also found that it felt like a larger, softer car but with out the practicality of four seats and a large boot so of no interest to me. Tested and then purchased an S2000 which in many ways was much further from perfect than the BMW or the Porsche but it really felt like a good toy; you really had to drive it and be right on top of it if you wanted to drive at all hard. Great fun.
Three years later I sold the S2000 and got the M3W. It is much less competent than any of the first three with much lower build quality, much worse handling, far less grip and practicality, costs far more to run, generally has so many more faults that it would be difficult to list them all and yet, yes, it has more character by far than any of them.
Conclusion; perfection does not make for character and it is largely the faults in a car that do make for character.
On the other hand if I had to do 30,000 miles a year in just one car I would not want it to have character; I'd want it to be comfortable, efficient, utterly reliable, frankly bland and I would stil;l have the M3W for fun.
