Of Life, Love and Happiness
I have recently begun considering making a major change in my current life... Departing from a loved one in favor of a slightly lower maintenance option.
No, I don't mean to scare any of you, as I'm not getting divorced. It's about the car. That beautiful, boxy, incredibly fun piece of machinery. I love it dearly, but there are costs involved in that love that I was not aware of at the time. There have also been changes in my situation since then that make it difficult to reasonably hang onto the dream that that particular automobile embodies.
For the past year or so there has been a definite love/hate relationship with my 1989 BMW M3. You see, when I bought it, I was not aware of some of the nuances of owning what many call the E30 M3. The, shall we say, idiosyncracies of this particular model. For it is in it's differences from other BMWs that are both it's charm, as well as the greatest pains of ownership.
This version of BMW was an alteration of the existing E30 body style (the mid-eighties 3-series) that became the embodiment of yuppie-dom in the late eighties and early nineties. The alterations made were all done for a specific purpose: To take advantage of the rules of a certain racing class. The flared fenders were to allow for wider tires. The ground effects package (front lip, raised trunk, rear spoiler, increased slope of the rear windshield) was all in the name of increased aerodynamics and downforce. The engine was created specifically to fit within an arbitrary limit of 2.3 liter displacement and four cylinders, and was based on the design of an older Formula 1 racing engine. All of these modifications were done in a way that allowed BMW to create a racecar that could be produced in relatively large numbers. Why? Because the rules also specified that a minimum number of cars must be built to be considered a "production" car. And then BMW went racing...
Now as to why this makes a difference: Parts, their availability, how much they cost, and who is able to work on them. These are now old cars. My particular M3 has over two hundred thousand miles. Many of the components have recently been replaced. Many more are in need of replacement. This wasn't designed as a car for toodling around town, or sitting in bumper-to-bumper for the daily grind. So some of these components, while they work absolutely fabulous when driving down a nice twisty back road or flat out on the autobahn, have a greater tendency to become not so great in town with rough pavement, or in that daily grind. The seats squeak. The suspension is very stiff. The tires wear out quickly.
It handles wonderfully when it's being pushed hard. It behaves like it's natural for it to be going like a bat out of hell with it's balls on fire. But I am discovering that I can't afford the costs involved with either trying to restore a 17-year old racecar to perfection. I don't have the knowledge or tools to be able to immediately take care of every little new thing that goes wrong. This brings me to the conclusion that I would be better off at this time with somethign a little more plebian. I'm still going to be driving The Ultimate Driving Machine*, it just won't be one of the Real M3's for a while.
And so begins the search for a replacement. Now, how to decide exactly what it is I am going to end up with...
*Copyright goes to BMW...
No, I don't mean to scare any of you, as I'm not getting divorced. It's about the car. That beautiful, boxy, incredibly fun piece of machinery. I love it dearly, but there are costs involved in that love that I was not aware of at the time. There have also been changes in my situation since then that make it difficult to reasonably hang onto the dream that that particular automobile embodies.
For the past year or so there has been a definite love/hate relationship with my 1989 BMW M3. You see, when I bought it, I was not aware of some of the nuances of owning what many call the E30 M3. The, shall we say, idiosyncracies of this particular model. For it is in it's differences from other BMWs that are both it's charm, as well as the greatest pains of ownership.
This version of BMW was an alteration of the existing E30 body style (the mid-eighties 3-series) that became the embodiment of yuppie-dom in the late eighties and early nineties. The alterations made were all done for a specific purpose: To take advantage of the rules of a certain racing class. The flared fenders were to allow for wider tires. The ground effects package (front lip, raised trunk, rear spoiler, increased slope of the rear windshield) was all in the name of increased aerodynamics and downforce. The engine was created specifically to fit within an arbitrary limit of 2.3 liter displacement and four cylinders, and was based on the design of an older Formula 1 racing engine. All of these modifications were done in a way that allowed BMW to create a racecar that could be produced in relatively large numbers. Why? Because the rules also specified that a minimum number of cars must be built to be considered a "production" car. And then BMW went racing...
Now as to why this makes a difference: Parts, their availability, how much they cost, and who is able to work on them. These are now old cars. My particular M3 has over two hundred thousand miles. Many of the components have recently been replaced. Many more are in need of replacement. This wasn't designed as a car for toodling around town, or sitting in bumper-to-bumper for the daily grind. So some of these components, while they work absolutely fabulous when driving down a nice twisty back road or flat out on the autobahn, have a greater tendency to become not so great in town with rough pavement, or in that daily grind. The seats squeak. The suspension is very stiff. The tires wear out quickly.
It handles wonderfully when it's being pushed hard. It behaves like it's natural for it to be going like a bat out of hell with it's balls on fire. But I am discovering that I can't afford the costs involved with either trying to restore a 17-year old racecar to perfection. I don't have the knowledge or tools to be able to immediately take care of every little new thing that goes wrong. This brings me to the conclusion that I would be better off at this time with somethign a little more plebian. I'm still going to be driving The Ultimate Driving Machine*, it just won't be one of the Real M3's for a while.
And so begins the search for a replacement. Now, how to decide exactly what it is I am going to end up with...
*Copyright goes to BMW...
posted by Stephen Hughes-Jelen at 10:04 PM
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