Hello,
I'm new to the forum and just wanted to share my first BMW experience.
After driving an '01 Trans Am for the last two and a half years, the wife
and family life in general was starting to demand a more "practical"
car , (uh oh, you dont mean like, SUV practical, do you?) Also, after
replacing the transmission on the TA at 45k (fortunately under warranty),
I was having major doubts, as with many other American cars I've owned,
that it would be able to go the distance in the reliablity department.
Well, reliablility and practicality, I suppose I could buy a Toyota or
Honda. Uh, except for one thing, nothing about Japanese cars ever
held any allure for me. I dont know why, but the sizzle just isn't
there. Maybe it was time to start looking at a German car.
According to my wife, the main criteria that had to be met was that
it must have more room in the back seat for the ever growing kid.
Well, that meant just about any other car on the market besides the
Trans Am. So far so good. Maybe I was going to actually avoid the SUV
(Simply Ungainly Vehicle) syndrome.
I decided that a sport sedan should be the way to go, functional, yet
something that would be fun to drive, which I have always thought
paramount in choosing a vehicle.
I had always been drawn to BMWs, I liked the looks, the sportiness,
the luxury, and the reputation for engineering and quality. I was
specifically interested in the 3 series, everything I had ever read about
them was postive, they're always referred to as the "benchmark" of
the small sport/luxury segment, etc.
At any rate, I never got around to seriously checking them out for one
reason or another, perhaps the cost put me off, or, more than likely,
it was my obsessive infactuation with gobs of horsepower, which the
Trans Am had an abundance of, for an unbeatable price. I'm still
convinced that I never got more ponies per dollar than I did with that
car, it was raw, exciting, and I was never passed. But, as my
circumstances and priorites began to change, it dawned on me
that I was ready for something more refined.
Anyway, I went through the motions of driving a few Audis and VW's,
even a Mercedes, even though somehow I knew I'd end up with a BMW.
The test drives only confirmed my suspicions. I liked the 325i, but coming
down off the power trip of the Firebird, I just couldn't make the 130hp
less transition, even though the price was right. I then drove the 330.
This was more like it. The power was respectable. Smooth, linear
and well suited to the car altogether. The only problem was that I didnt
want to part with forty one thousand dollars. In the end the compromise was
a pristine used '02 with all the toys, low miles, and a price of about 10k
less than a new one.
I dont think I will ever regret buying this car, I've seldom had so much
fun just plain motoring. Its almost like driving a cross between a Rolls
Royce and a Ferrari. It truly is a drivers car, taut, composed, quick, agile,
quiet, luxurious, and handles like its on rails. Wonderful fit and finish.
It even has rear wheel drive, the way it was meant to be....
wow, what a joy to drive!
I'm new to the forum and just wanted to share my first BMW experience.
After driving an '01 Trans Am for the last two and a half years, the wife
and family life in general was starting to demand a more "practical"
car , (uh oh, you dont mean like, SUV practical, do you?) Also, after
replacing the transmission on the TA at 45k (fortunately under warranty),
I was having major doubts, as with many other American cars I've owned,
that it would be able to go the distance in the reliablity department.
Well, reliablility and practicality, I suppose I could buy a Toyota or
Honda. Uh, except for one thing, nothing about Japanese cars ever
held any allure for me. I dont know why, but the sizzle just isn't
there. Maybe it was time to start looking at a German car.
According to my wife, the main criteria that had to be met was that
it must have more room in the back seat for the ever growing kid.
Well, that meant just about any other car on the market besides the
Trans Am. So far so good. Maybe I was going to actually avoid the SUV
(Simply Ungainly Vehicle) syndrome.
I decided that a sport sedan should be the way to go, functional, yet
something that would be fun to drive, which I have always thought
paramount in choosing a vehicle.
I had always been drawn to BMWs, I liked the looks, the sportiness,
the luxury, and the reputation for engineering and quality. I was
specifically interested in the 3 series, everything I had ever read about
them was postive, they're always referred to as the "benchmark" of
the small sport/luxury segment, etc.
At any rate, I never got around to seriously checking them out for one
reason or another, perhaps the cost put me off, or, more than likely,
it was my obsessive infactuation with gobs of horsepower, which the
Trans Am had an abundance of, for an unbeatable price. I'm still
convinced that I never got more ponies per dollar than I did with that
car, it was raw, exciting, and I was never passed. But, as my
circumstances and priorites began to change, it dawned on me
that I was ready for something more refined.
Anyway, I went through the motions of driving a few Audis and VW's,
even a Mercedes, even though somehow I knew I'd end up with a BMW.
The test drives only confirmed my suspicions. I liked the 325i, but coming
down off the power trip of the Firebird, I just couldn't make the 130hp
less transition, even though the price was right. I then drove the 330.
This was more like it. The power was respectable. Smooth, linear
and well suited to the car altogether. The only problem was that I didnt
want to part with forty one thousand dollars. In the end the compromise was
a pristine used '02 with all the toys, low miles, and a price of about 10k
less than a new one.
I dont think I will ever regret buying this car, I've seldom had so much
fun just plain motoring. Its almost like driving a cross between a Rolls
Royce and a Ferrari. It truly is a drivers car, taut, composed, quick, agile,
quiet, luxurious, and handles like its on rails. Wonderful fit and finish.
It even has rear wheel drive, the way it was meant to be....
wow, what a joy to drive!
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Welcome to the board. Nicely written post! I had the same 'awakening' about 6 months ago. I have a Volvo 740 and thought I was in the 'Volvo for life' plan. Test drove the C70 Volvo - very disappointed. Then I drove the 330cic - the rest is history. Now it's definitely 'BMW for life'.
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