I'm sad. I miss my old car.

I had this 1991 318i a few years ago when I graduated college. The future Mrs. Unevolved bought it for me as a graduation present. A little over a year later after we got married, we decided to sell it and get an E46 to have something better cross-country since all we had at the time was an E30, an old Accord, and a single-cab pickup. Fast-forward to three years later, the E46 is now the oldest, crappiest car we have.

I miss that little thing. I never should have sold it. I'm not an E46 kinda guy, I want that rough-around-the-edges, underpowered, kinda ugly E30 back. I always feel like I look like I'm trying to convey a "successful" image in the E46, and it's never felt "right." You know? I've always prided myself on being more of a "blue-collar engineer" than the "I'm gonna drive a brand new BMW one day" kinda guy. I don't want a "nice" car. I work around Vipers and Corvettes and 911s and E36 M3 all day every day, and it doesn't appeal to me. They don't have the same kind of character as a little old german economy car.

I sold it to a guy up in Michigan. He flew down from Michigan with his brother, and they drove it all the way from Texas back up there. I have no doubt the little thing made it there without a complaint. Worst part is, though, the guy won't even answer my emails asking how it's doing. Not a peep.

Man, I tell you what, I'd trade my E46 for a running, driving 1991 318i with a 5-speed in a heart beat. Although unfortunately that's not such an advantageous trade these days, so it may not ever happen.

If I sell the E46, will I regret it like I do selling the E30? I doubt it. I'm not in love with that car like I was with the E30. It costs SO much more to keep on the road than it should, where the E30 cost me next to nothing the whole time I owned it.

Maybe it's just the whiskey, but I've made myself sad looking at pictures of that old thing. I figured you guys would understand.

oooh man, be careful with that, things like this happen.

I hear ya though, and I completely understand. If the guy up north wont answer, and Mrs. Unevolved understands, then I say sell the e46 and find ya an e30 again.

That's a good read. Thanks.

It's probably for the best that I don't get that car back. It wasn't really that good of an example, truth be told. We've been in the middle of moving across the state, starting two new jobs, and buying a house for the past damn-near-two months, and my E46 has been parked at a buddy's house. Maybe I just need to drive it a bit more and remember why I bought it in the first place. It IS a fun car...

I was thinking of Bill's thread as well. Do be careful with those thoughts. That's how I ended up buying another P71. Still very happy with that decision.

Kind of like Old Girlfriends that YOU dump thinking the grass is greener in the other yard.

Yep, I think the saying is 'once you go E30, you never go back' or something like that. I know I'll never sell mine (1991 318is).

Don't. You'll regret it.

I think my only hope is to just hang on to this E46 until the end of time. Truth be told, it's actually in really good condition for a car with 210,000 miles, especially a GERMAN car with that many miles. I'll probably keep working through the suspension and keeping the engine happy, then when it pops put in a fresh M54B30 with some cams and headers or something.

It's not a bad looking car, either.

Same roof rack, too. So a little piece of the E30 lives on!

If you're worried how your E46 is messaging, do what I do with my E92 M3: Drive around with two different kinds of wheels on the front and rear axles. Totally knocks the poser vibe off the car.

Dammit, now I'm sad and drunk-searching for my old car on the internets. I've got the buyer's contact information, but he hasn't answered an email since he drove off, despite my bi-annual "Hey, just checking in" emails. His username still logs onto r3vlimited and lurks on occasion, so I know he's not dead.

I wish I never sold this car.

Does it need to be that one or could you find something similar and build it up into something you wanted the old one to be? Like, take old ideas you had for the first one, and incorporate into something better than you originally planned.

I mean, I would totally buy that particular car in a heartbeat if I had the chance, even though it's a bad idea. My now-wife bought it for me as a graduation present before we were married, and we drove away from our wedding in it. Lots of sentimental attachment.

One day, I may own another E30 sedan, but that's kind of a different search, you know?

In reply to unevolved:

Yeah, agreed, and understood.

In reply to unevolved:

It's just not the same, is it? I did the same thing when I thought my truck was sold out of country. I poked around a few lots and kicked the tires, but they didn't have that same feeling.

Keep at it man. Buying it back is only a bad idea if you sell it again

I feel the same way about a couple of cars in my past. I know where you're coming from. He'll, my wife and I got married in a rental V6 Mustang in Las Vegas and every now and again I look through Craigslist to see if I can find one that looks like our one wedding picture.
On a side note, you're one of those people that I wonder if I've met it real life doing car stuff in Houston.

I feel your pain. My first car was an 87 E30 sedan (sadly auto).

Actually I sold it to someone on here about 7 years ago (under a different username I couldn't remember) because the transmission went out and I was a broke high school kid.

Since that day there has been an E30 sized hole in my heart.

gearheadE30 wrote: Yep, I think the saying is 'once you go E30, you never go back' or something like that.

No. No, I won't go back to an E30. Few cars I've ever owned did I hate more. And "hate" is not a word I like to use. But I hated that car. 3 years of wallet-draining hell.

But for the OP: https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/open-classifieds/track-prepped-e30-with-s50-engine-swap-and-lots-more/107623/page1/

I still miss my E28 from time to time. Drove it daily for nine years and quite a lot of miles. My current E39 just isn't the same; very good in its own way, but not as engaging. Of course, my old 533i went to the junkyard with a rusted floorpan at the subframe mounts, so it's definitely not coming back.

After having to drive a boring rental car for a week, I got my 325ix back from the shop yesterday (I had the transfer case rebuilt.) Much happier now.

I know that feel, bro.

I think we all have one of those "cars that got away". Just this morning on the way to work, I found myself behind a 2002-03 silver WRX wagon, complete with a catless exhaust and aftermarket wheels, just like the one I used to have. It was familiarly rumbly and loud, and even the smell of that raw exhaust brought back a flood of good memories. And during that moment, I completely omitted all the PITA things, like the time raw fuel poured all over the hot engine when it got cold because of a factory defect, the falling-apart seats, the general clunkiness of everything, etc. But, even with its faults, I still miss that car, and I never should have gotten rid of it. I just wanted one more spin around the block at full boost.

At least with cars, you can just get another one!

With all this melancholy over old BMW sedans, which one of you is going to buy my E12?

AngryCorvair wrote: With all this melancholy over old BMW sedans, which one of you is going to buy my E12?

If I had the means, I'd already own it. My buddy in high school who passed away a couple years ago had an E12 in a very similar color, and we used to bomb around in it all the time.

More feels...

I wonder if people thought the same thing about my E36 M3. "Oh look he drives an old BMW, he must be trying to convince people how successful he is". Yeah, they might think that...right up until the moment I turn the keys to start it. Then they realize its loud, its stiff, and its angry. I took pretty much all signs of refinement out of that thing. Still had heated cloth seats, but that was it.

But man could that thing take a corner. And the engine note was pure music after headers and a good muffler. I sold that car not too long ago and yeah, I'm already regretting it. I'll own another E36, of that I'm sure.

I did own an E30, but there are some engineering choices they made on that car that just make me scratch my head. I guess my ideal situation would be a late model e30 with a 24 valve non-vanos swap.

People ask me all the time when I'm going to sell the little Honda 200 and get a bigger bike. I can't. I'll spend the rest of my life trying to buy it back.

mazdeuce wrote: On a side note, you're one of those people that I wonder if I've met it real life doing car stuff in Houston.

I don't think so, I didn't have much time for fun stuff when I lived in Houston. Part of the reason why I stopped and moved up to DFW. You stopped by the shop at Cresson when you were doing One Lap, right?

AngryCorvair wrote: With all this melancholy over old BMW sedans, which one of you is going to buy my E12?

Trade you for an old Comanche.

Ian F wrote:

gearheadE30 wrote: Yep, I think the saying is 'once you go E30, you never go back' or something like that.

No. No, I won't go back to an E30. Few cars I've ever owned did I hate more. And "hate" is not a word I like to use. But I hated that car. 3 years of wallet-draining hell. But for the OP: https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/open-classifieds/track-prepped-e30-with-s50-engine-swap-and-lots-more/107623/page1/

I wish I could afford something like that, but I'm hoping for a solid sub-3k car. I'll take slow and rust free over track whore right now.