2nd BMW, 1st E46

Hello everyone, i am an old school mechanic who only loved old muscle cars mainly mustangs. After graduating high school i met a guy through my girlfriend at the time who was all about BMW, Porshe, and Mercedes. He grew up driving and road racing these cars with his dad were as i grew up building and driving american muscle cars with my dad. Even with the totally opposite background we hit it off instantly and have been best friends ever since. Starting in 1996 i had a 1984 SVO Mustang and he had a 1986 BMW 325i. Both cars were works in progress. We spent countless hours and lots of paychecks working on them. We would work all week and race the cars on the weekends. We got leary of street racing and decided to find organized racing and started with autocross. Since then my friend Carmine has started his own buisiness called Carmine's Import Service. Since 2008 he has been very successful because of his honesty and also the skill level of he and his Technicians. I bought my first BMW from him about five years ago. It was a 1984 318i. Lots of miles but ran good. He was going to build a track car out of it and i needed a small daily driver with good gas mileage. 800 dollars later i drove it home and realized why people love these cars so much. I fell in love with this car to my surprise and drove it and tinkered with it for 4 years. Did some upgrades and cosmetics as well. About a year ago Carmine called me on his way out of town. He said i'm selling one of my personal cars, stop by my house and check it out for the weekend. See what you think. I left the key under the mat for ya. So i stopped on my way home from work and it was a 1999 BMW 323i. Titansilber with the sport package, grey interior with the 3spoke steering wheel. This car was prestine. Mechanically perfect and very well maintained. I would have expected nothing less from him. As i drove home i fell in love with the car and was afraid to ask how much he was asking. When he told me the price i had to have it so i sold a motorcycle and some other toys of mine. Sold the 318 for what i paid for it 4 years prior and bout it the next week. I have had it about a year now and am very happy with my purchase every day. I realize that the cost of upkeep is substantially higher and so i really appreciate this forum as it has a wealth of information and good people with the same issues as i have. These cars do have some strange issues i must say, but it's worth it. I have found that nothing else on the road drives or feels like a BMW. I look forward to getting in my 323i every day just to drive to and from work. Sorry this post was so long but if you read it all, thanks. I hope to provide some experience myself as i work on cars every day. I have certainly learned a lot from all of you guys so far!





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