I had spent close to a decade in various Subaru wagons and a Pathfinder as my reliable winter vehicles, but was still thinking about how much fun I had in my old E39 when it was bone stock. I missed the precision of the shifter and the general refinement of the car. So, another BMW was in order, and the N54 happened to be on the bucket list...
It's a 2009 335Xi with a rare 6 speed, in Space Grey over Saddle Brown interior.
I vowed to keep the E90 bone stock, and of course that turned into an MHD flash, some springs, DCI, and some M-Parallels.
After nearly 5 years in the Corvette, I grew tired of the harsh ride, imprecise steering and heavy clutch. It was (is?) a brute of a car with tons of power in a light chassis but was a chore to drive. My wife didn't enjoy riding in it, and once we found out she was pregnant, it really got me thinking. Since I wanted to share my automotive passion with her and our little one, the Corvette wouldn't do - no back seat for the baby and not pleasant for the wife. It was bittersweet to sell it, but ultimately the right decision.
So for the first time since 2011, I was down to owning just one car, the 335. I was ready for something a little more refined, with a backseat for the baby, and still fun to beat on when I would be driving it alone. The hunt for an E92 M3 began, and now that you know who I am and how I like to party, you can see the why I wanted the bonkers V8 with the old school German refinement.
With the Corvette gone and my lust for the E92 M3 in full swing, I began looking around for cars that fit my needs:
1. The right color in the following order of preference:
Interlagos Blue - just love this shade in the sun, very uncommon
Alpine White - classic, but to me is sometimes a bit boring
Space Grey - Understated and strong, but I already have a Space Grey E90
All the other colors like Melbourne Red, Jerez Black, etc just didn't do it for me.
I vowed to never own another (jet) black car again as the upkeep is just too painful.
2. 6 Speed manual. DCT is a great transmission, but the entire point of this car is to enjoy the analog feel of what makes BMWs great, so the DCT was out.
3. Well cared for, not beat on/abused, and mechanically unmodified. No accidents, paint work, no stories/BS.
4. Sunroofs were not an issue for me. CF roof is sexy, but this is not a track car, so the benefit of having the wind in my hair outweighed the negative of the extra bulk on the roofline.
I initially looked at a white E92 M3 in Pittsburgh but the combination of grey Novillo interior and lack of must-have options like PDC and Keyless go steered me away.
One evening a buddy sends me a link for an Interlagos Blue car with 61K miles about an hour away being sold at a small family owned dealership. It's got the tri-color painted grilles and painted reflectors, which indicates it was probably owned by an enthusiast at some point. Now, this may be a good thing, as enthusiasts are usually more sensitive to the needs of a performance car; however, they also tend to drive cars harder than Average Joe, so a PPI is even more important.
Regardless, the color and mileage were right, price wasn't awful, and all the options were there so I jumped in the 335 with my wife and took a ride to see it.
Besides the awful grilles and some dealer applied stickers, it was very clean inside and showed almost no wear anywhere besides the shift knob. I had a PPI done with indicated some front tire wear, but no other mechanical problems. Sweet! There are some other small issues with the car, but should be easily remedied:
-Driver's seat belt extender doesn't grab the belt. Looks like a broken clip inside.
-SOS Assist is inactive. Don't care, will disable. The warning is annoying.
-Having some trouble connecting my phone to the Bluetooth system. When I try to activate the bluetooth system, it just spins and thinks forever. Long term I'd like to figure out a system where I can play music through my Android through the car.
I had a good understanding of what the car was currently, but was curious about its past especially seeing the cosmetic modifications. On a whim I was Googling the VIN to see if there was any info out there, and the name and number of a random person popped up next to it. The information lined up with the original purchase location listed on the CarFax, so I rang them up and left a VM explaining that I was looking at the car and was wondering if they had owned it at some point. I went to bed not thinking much of it.
The next day I get a call from a polite older gentleman who had not only owned the car, but was the original owner and owned it for most of its life. We spoke at length about how he enjoyed the car, had babied it and garaged it, and had never modified it or tracked it. He actually expressed regret at trading it in since the 911 that replaced it for him couldn't fit his golf clubs like the M3 did. :bellyroll Most reassuring was the fact that it had been maintained at the same dealer most of its life.
He was ultimately curious as to where the car ended up, and didn't know who had it between him and I - my best guess is that someone bought the car as a fun toy for a couple years, enjoyed it, and decided to move on to something newer.
Having that peace of mind really sealed the deal for me - I drove back out and purchased the car last weekend. E90 and E92 side by side:
We took the long way home up by Lake Ontario, and of course it poured rain the whole way which put a damper on opening up the taps on the car.
Initial impressions:
The steering is telepathic, the NVH is almost nonexistent, and the lack of torque between 1000-3000 rpms is tough to get used to after coming from a 6.2L LS :thumsup:
The sound of the motor singing past 6000 is life changing, albeit a bit quiet for my tastes. We'll have to see what we can do about that.
do want.
