I did a thing.

[— kung fu jesus —]

Picking this up tonight, leaving in a few minutes. I took these last night:









2005 330ci ZHP, original owner (in first pic), stack of receipts since new, Georgia car it’s entire life, 100k miles, clean title, no accidents.

6sp manual, sports suspension, sport pkg, etc.

The price was criminally low for this market.

[— kung fu jesus —]

Home!

[—Bryan—]

Uh oh.

[HarryB]

Looks really nice! I am not a fan of the grey interior (or that Dinan badge), but other than that car looks really great!

[— Agent☣Orange —]

How many times did you back into the garage last night just to look at it?

[— kung fu jesus —]

Dinan badge DEFINTELY coming off.



I didn't look back, I was too tired from work and driving all over ATL.

I registered the car today.

[Slampen]

Dinan badge DEFINTELY coming off.

Is the tune any good?

[— kung fu jesus —]

Dinan has a decent reputation, I just don’t feel the need to advertise. It’s a bit cheesy to me having chromed, metal tuner badging on the trunk lid.

[Slampen]

It’s a bit cheesy to me having chromed, metal tuner badging on the trunk lid.

The chrome is more Florida than Atlanta style?

[— Agent☣Orange —]

747B988C-9D4A-4D19-BF58-0A4B1123C61C.jpeg

[— kung fu jesus —]

The chrome is more Florida than Atlanta style?

Lol! Most definitely.

[— kung fu jesus —]

Sold it to part of the ATL Jzilla “family”. Super nice guy, I worked with him as an instructor. He owns a super-low mileage NA (‘90, white) as its stablemate. This is a feel-good story for everyone.

I sold a custom ‘99 Miata with 178k for the same price I bought an ‘05 BMW with 100k and rare options. Win!

[—Bryan—]

Sad to see it go. Wish it had been an option four years ago.

[— kung fu jesus —]

I am happy both transactions went smooth and fast!

Now that is has been a few days, some thoughts on the new car.

The receipts are unbelievable! This is sort of a dream scenario. The majority of the work was done at the dealer near me and an indie BMW garage the next town over. This is definitely a well-loved, well-maintained car, but not so perfect where I would be nervous about every little thing.

The commute in it has been wonderful. The car cruises at 2750 RPMs at 80, it’s so quiet at speed. The engine is extremely healthy. Deceptively quick. The in-line 6 has such a fat torque curve, dipping into the pedal to pass is like taking an absurd bite of chocolate cake.

The transmission and shifter are better than all my other BMWs, which were 5sp. It’s a joy to downshift, heel-toe.

Sport seats on the e46 are well bolstered, highly adjustable, but not claustrophobic. Up/down, tilt fore/aft separate for the seat and seat back, lumbar in/out and up/ down. The extendable thigh support is something I always wish the Miatas had.

The factory sound actually rocks. 400+ watts, 10 or 12 speaker? C’mon!

The color and aero package? Wow. Just wow. Such a beautiful color.

The sport suspension makes this car surprisingly easy to throw around. The curvy roads behind my home, I was doing the same maneuvers as in the Miata. 225/45-18 stock in front, 255s out back (also stock) may be an ingredient to that.

I am still in disbelief how I landed this thing.

[— Agent☣Orange —]

Welp, might be time to start a new thread and close this chapter on the Miata. I did another thing? I did something else?