^ ouch. I was actually on the fence to buy an E46 M3. The sport seats in that car with the high bolsters are awesome. I was surprised to hear Chris Harris call it the perfect BMW.

The 3 series has hardly been terrible also. Not something I would want to keep out of warranty though. But look whose talking. $10K in major maintenance and unexpected repairs before even hitting 80K miles on my Boxster.

cool. Have you thought about sending the oil to blackstone for analysis? assuming you still have it.

That would have been a good thing to do- I still have the oil but it is mixed in a 55 gallon used oil barrel. I use a Chevron company in KC for analysis on the Boxster and my work trucks- I assume they offer the same data as Blackstone.

The engine seems to run like a champ- (typical BMW lifter/injector tick) All the "rubber" products around it are failing- Just popped a hole in one of the Power steering pump hoses last night. Got a place down the street that can build me new ones for much cheaper than OEM.

I got the Porsche out today- (55f) and it is still much better to drive. It will be nice to get out of one and into the other.

Interior
 

^ That's nuts.

Does it feel heavy or understeery?

It is hard to explain- I have not driven it as hard as I have the Porsche (I don't know it that well, yet) but, some of the on ramps and my favorite local roads it performs and corners well- it feels like a big car and rides smooth- it just feels solid.

It does squat in the rear if I run through the gears hard- but it will also smoke the tires off or easily or "drift" if I get into it around a corner. The plan is new springs and struts soon, this should add to the cornering performance.

Ive wanted one for years- but I also wanted a daily driver that was fun to drive, unique and cheap(er) on taxes. It fits my requirements!