[Caffeine Powered]

Hey everyone. Story time. I think I got lucky. I've had a variety of cars of the years. My first car was a '77 Rabbit. Followed by a '78 MGB, '77 Alfa GTV which were great drivers cars when I wasn't wrenching on the them, which was most of the time. Then a '82 Mustang (worthless) and a '84 Subaru GL that wouldn't die. I took a break from cars for 4Runner's when I got married and we had our daughter. Our garage, aka the German Embassy, is full of VAG products, the wife's '14 TDI Sportwagon, the daughter's '16 Jetta and my '07 Audi A3. Anyone want an A3?

When we looked for the daughter's car two years ago she asked "Is a $50,000 BMW really twice the car of a $25,000 VW?" A valid question needed an answer. So we (I) drove a 228xi. I was impressed. It reminded me of my Alfa and MGB but evolved. It was far too much car for a new driver, but it answered the question. Yes, it is more car.

With the daughter out of the house now I began looking for a coupe. I've had the A3 seven years and I've grown tired of it. I need a car that can carry golf clubs or a bicycle in the trunk and not have to put the rear seat down. Ideally I wanted a manual transmission with AWD. The options were the Audi S5, Mustang, Camaro, BMW 2 & 4 series, Lexus RC350, and if Toyota and Alfa Romeo would get off their asses a Supra or Giulia coupe.

After testing I had it down to an S5 or 240xi. BTW, who drives a Camaro and can see where they're going? I'm 6' tall and I felt like I was trying to see the world through a mail slot.

I liked the room of the S5 and the AWD, but the 240 felt like a true sports car. I had to cave on my checklist. If I wanted a stick, I had to give up the AWD. I'm fine with paddle shifters since the A3 has them.

I tasked the BMW dealer (also our VW/Audi dealer) to find me a 240xi with a tan interior in any body color but black. After three black cars in a row I will NEVER own a black car again. They won't stay clean looking!

Two days later I received an email about discounts and leasing deals from the corporate office. But there was a link to their CPO inventory so I took a look. There was a car I didn't expect. A 2007 328xi, 6 speed manual, blue, tan interior and 36,000 miles. I went to see it that night.

The power was underwhelming at first. No turbo meant less than 300hp and no catapulting out of corners. When asked what I though I replied "it's responsible... but I like it."

I spend the next day reviewing the +/- balance sheet. Positives were it could do everything I needed it to do. The only two negatives were that it wasn't new and it didn't have >300hp. The typical Devil/Angel conversation occurred "but do you NEED all that power? No, I have the GSX-R if I want to go stupid fast. No? WTF is wrong with you? MORE POWER IS BETTER! Oh shut up. It'll be fine. Won't it?"

So obviously I bought it. Its previous owner had died in his 80's and the widow sold it to the dealer. It has all the service records, well, as many as a car with 36,000 miles can have.

Now that I've driven it for a week I remember how a naturally aspirated motor works. It comes out of corners just fine. Engine braking and heel/toe are coming back to me. This car can be driven and I could get into trouble, but that threshold is fairly high with this car. It's planted on wet corners and the power is there.

The only changes I want to make are better tires than the run flat Conti's and an airbox with chip. I've looked around a bit and I'll put a compressor with plug kit in the trunk for the new wheels and traditional tires.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading. I'll see you around.

[Efthreeoh]

Congrats on the car. I can post a list of tickets I've been issued by the local LEOs in my measly-powered 325i (a few less ponies than your car) if you like . In my defense I drive 35,000 miles a year, so about 3 times the average. IMO there is always a faster car, so who cares. Most any $12K motorcycle will rocket past most $50,000 cars in a heartbeat. If the car drives great and pleases you driving it, who cares what others think about its acceleration numbers.

The front drive adds a bit of complexity, but the N52 (engine) is about as bulletproof as it comes in the E9X series. I have two cars with the N52 in them. At 36,000 miles, you have many, many, many, many miles left before, well nothing really; you'll probably want to just fix it anyway. Trust me on that.

[HotelCharliHill]

Cool