[JK479]

Originally Posted by Mavus

Yes have them on couple of cars and love them at night! It wasn’t that long ago. China is the primary market now so light shows and dragons are the name of the game until Europe puts tarrifs on China’s cars and then we’ll see what happens. I dislike circus lights in the interior.

I just picked up an 18,000 mile e83 3.0 (2004) and the interior is very spartan. It’s going to be a work/landscaping weekend vehicle but I’m amazed at how precise the servotronic steering is. Later Gen x3 when electronic.

Finding a decent e46 330i manual is proving much more difficult.

All while having the new x3 in my sights. It’s a good time to be a car fan- but it’s hard if you embrace the early 2000s design philosophy too.

[JK479]

Originally Posted by ScottyRyan2019

I don't mind all the tech on the inside. But I don't really need my grill to glow. 🤣

I like the grill highlight. But it’s been out for a while and never saw the x5 or x7. Just the i7 🔥 lit. And it is cool.

[Mavus]

Originally Posted by JK479

I just picked up an 18,000 mile e83 3.0 (2004) and the interior is very spartan. It’s going to be a work/landscaping weekend vehicle but I’m amazed at how precise the servotronic steering is. Later Gen x3 when electronic.

Finding a decent e46 330i manual is proving much more difficult.

All while having the new x3 in my sights. It’s a good time to be a car fan- but it’s hard if you embrace the early 2000s design philosophy too.

nice to find that e83 should last a long time with regular maint.

Going fwd I think e46 and e9x will be desirable because they have good perf for dd, are easy to use and plenty of shops can repair them at an OK cost. On the other hand new models with more complex s/w and user interface will be harder to maintain post basic wrnty. Car manuf are cutting cost and making user interface more distracting that nobody asked for and we know that most folks don’t have good driving skills as it is and now they will be playing with car menus to get to heated seats as an example and phones at the same time. This is safety issue obviously.

[JK479]

Originally Posted by Mavus

nice to find that e83 should last a long time with regular maint.

Going fwd I think e46 and e9x will be desirable because they have good perf for dd, are easy to use and plenty of shops can repair them at an OK cost. On the other hand new models with more complex s/w and user interface will be harder to maintain post basic wrnty. Car manuf are cutting cost and making user interface more distracting that nobody asked for and we know that most folks don’t have good driving skills as it is and now they will be playing with car menus to get to heated seats as an example and phones at the same time. This is safety issue obviously.

I had a nice non idrive 335i Xdrive manual that only had 60,000 miles on tap- but sold before I was able to deposit. They are still out there- not much money either.

I think the unicorn will be a 330xi manual sedan- in good shape with some sort of low mileage contingent. That will be a classic along with the 330i. They made a ton more 325 which are nice but tend to be missing so many options.

Even the 5 speed steptronic transmission is smooth and trouble free. Some of the E gen were simple cars. I can remember the x3 coming out and not being a fan- now I look at it with the black bumper and I think it’s smart for the first gen x3. Lack of paint means it aged gracefully.

[Berry528]

I'm getting my angel to the moon.... It high speed, let's find the treasure honey 🚗🚘🚗