On February 28, 2003 someone decided total my 1991 Infiniti G20 (turbocharged). That left me in need of a ride. I had been thinking about the new Mazda 6, but about a month before Kerry and I also sat in a new BMW 3 series at the Houston Auto Show. It was clear we both fell in love with the Bimmer (not Beemer - ick). So after one trip to the car dealers (closed even) it was clear that the Bimmer was the winner. I originally was looking at new ones and decided to just see what used ones were going for. I immediately looked at eBay since it's really the perfect market (as they say in business school). I had only a couple of requirements. The car must have the sport package and must have a manual gearbox. I saw this one was being sold from a used car broker in Houston as well as a 323i from one around the corner (there is a cottage industry in Houston with probably a dozen such brokers all located within a few blocks). After test driving both and eventually looking at every 3 series that fit my requires on eBay as well as on Auto Trader dot com and a couple of other places. This car kept rising to the top. I decided that despite being the first car I looked at on-line and only the second that I drove, this was the car. So what did I get?2000 BMW 328i with:
Manual gearbox
Sport package (includes 17" wheels)
Premium package
Xenon headlamps
Black leather interior
Front seats with 3 driver memory (including side mirrors)
Sunroof
Floor mats
Harmon-Kardon premium stereo including CD playerBasically, I ended up with everything I wanted and more. I cannot believe this is my car.
After dinking around with various car projects for the last five years, I'm tired of screwing around with cars (almost). I want a daily driver that is fun to drive, but is also one that I just put gasoline in and oil once in a while and that's about it. This car is all that. It won't stay 100% stock, but damned near. I am getting ready to order some wheels for it. Down the road I have a couple of other things planned for it, but they are pretty simple and won't screw with the ride, the noise, etc. I'll post photos as I update the car and I'll post more photos when I have time to shoot some more.
The one real issue I need to addrss with this car is swirl marks. I've finally located a top notch detailer in Houston and will be contacting him to go through the outside completely. It won't be cheap, but it will be worth it since I don't have very good exterior detailing skills and right now I don't have the time anyway. Once it gets the first detailing, I will be learning how to do it myself.
So, for now, here are some more photos and more will be posted later.
Text and photos copyright George D. Roffe 2003
