How to make a Manly Man giggle like a little girl

[wdlfbio]

First a little background.

2 years ago we bought the Warden her first BMW, an '07 E92 328xi. AWD was the only requirement I placed on on her new ride. She was coming from an '03 Volvo S60 and driving about 75 miles each way, in western WA. Probably would have bought the 335, but it wasn't available in the E92 xi when we needed to ditch the Volvo. But, we did the ED. Way cool. After that, taking the car control clinic, and joining our CCA chapter for a couple of drives, she'll probably always have a BMW.

Fast forward 2 years and nearly 50K miles, it was time to sell the 328xi and get a new car. Two options came up, 335 and M3. Hmmmmmm. We could get the 335, add a couple mods, have a VERY fun car, and still be quite a bit under the M3 price, or, piss on it and go for the RIGHT car

So, M3 it was. Found out that we wouldn't receive a built to spec '09 until January, looked at the '08 rates, and decided to see if we could find a properly equipped AW E92 with DCT and the carbon fiber roof. Talked with our local CA (same person we bought the 328 from) and he did a locate for those minimums. Only in SoCal. He gave us the locate and suggested we take it from there, as we'd get a far better deal than having any dealership up here in Seattle handle the deal.

So, I called around and researched quite a bit from this site. In the end, Will Shaw with Long Beach BMW hooked us up with a nearly loaded M3 (which made the Warden even happier). I was very nervous. Heck, this rig had an MSRP barely under twice what our first house cost But, Will was great to deal with and the sale was as easy as I've had (5 new rigs in the last 5-6 years). Thanks man

Now, the Warden said she was just way too busy at work to fly down with me and drive the car up. How about just shipping, she asked??? How about, I fly down with my bro-in-law, and we drive it up?, I said. Jet Blue is $80 one way. She bought it and we booked the flight.

Will sent a rep in a sweet M5 to pick us up at the airport, and about an hour later, we were on our way to my folks' house for the night.

First thing in the morning was a fresh Zaino wash and a little Z6. It was too cold/damp for the Z2 (especially since I forgot the accelerator additive).


But, I gave it a little tape job with some 3M tape from the neighbor, who just happens to be a rep for 3M.


We left SoCal Saturday and headed up towards Big Sur. Andy had done that drive when he bought his 335 and said it was quite fun and scenic. We got there with well under the required 1,200 miles for an honest break-in, so we took care not to go overboard. However, those curves sure made for tons of fun! We couldn't figure out what all those sections with double yellow lines meant though I will say, we had plenty of traffic in our way, and more often than not, it was due to a hippy Prius or PT Cruzr. I'd say at least 60% of the time it was one of those rigs They are pretty easy to pass though.

The next day we headed up I5 through the Mount Shasta area and had a great drive through the mountains. Lots of curves and nice downhill runs. Fortunately, Andy brought along is Valentine1 . Then it happened, we hit the magic 1,200 miles. And at 1,201 it may have found better than 118mph @ 7,800 rpm


Then, it was my turn to drive. There's prety nice, level, straight section of I5 just outside of Weed, CA. Some people have learned that speeds of 156 mph are attainable there...

But the best part of the drive came when we turned off I5 in Cottage Grove, OR. A westerly gaunt on Lorane Highway and then north on Territorial Highway into Eugene was the best. It wasn't my turn to drive, so I got to navigate and try not to puke. We both tore the hell out of our guts from laughing and holding on so hard through the various turns. This is the best pic I can make, but you can easily see why it'd be fun.



In the end, we had a GREAT couple of days and not two looks from our friendly LEOs (thanks V1). I took the tape off and found a HUGE difference underneath.


Not a rock chip anywhere, but we did our share of bug extermination


Now it's time for the mods. First will be some LEO counter measures: V1 and Laser Interceptor.

2nd- Tint

3rd- Winter shoes

4th- She wants 20"s, but I think I'll be able to keep her at 19"s

[MysticBlue]

I've been trying to be cool and not think about it since I ordered mine about a month ago but stuff like this is making it hard to be patient. Still a couple weeks to go. Congrats on the car and the nice little road trip. BTW, I thought it was just us rednecks over here on the east side of the mountains that called 'em rigs.

[Rick]

Nice read.. congrats! Sounds like you had a blast. I'm planning on the Big Sur Cali Coast drive sometime before summer 09.

[SpencerM3]

Very cool man! Thanks for sharing and it sounds like you guys had a blast. How great of a drive is Highway 1 through the CA Central Coast? Enjoy the car

[Deda]

cool txt!

[Speedtrap]

Thanks for sharing..a few more lives lost on your bumper

[Year's_End]

The pics went well with the story, thanks for sharing.

[Eurotrash8]

Great story.....sounds like you had a blast.

Question though, should you not have taken the car for the fluid changes before going past 5500rpm? The point of friving until 1200 is to get all the internals moving and loose metals out before given er. .....

Regardless, great write up

[jamesisel]

great story and pics! ENJOY!

[monsta]

great job

[lizak187]

I like the green 3 m better than the blue 3m might have to go get some ...i kno im strange

Congrats