How to accept that my car won't ever be "perfect"?

[Obioban]

Certainly some mods have undesirable side effects. But, equally, some are only better. E.g Euro headers/cats, projector upgrade, chassis stiffness upgrades, oe monoball rtabs are all only better (sometimes significantly so) than stock.

…. I always want to drive the pants of my cars, so always want to take an M car. That may depend where you live. Where I live is all twisty roads and we have no local police department

[maw1124]

On board with the maintenance. Beyond that, hard disagree. I love DDing M cars (have been for 20 years now), and the car can be vastly improved over stock with some choice mods. Just because stock is good doesn’t mean there isn’t room for significant improvement.

Always room for hard disagreement. Mods that move the car closer to the limit doesn't mean vast improvement to me. Those improvements usually come with unseen costs.

But I daily drive Benzes and AMG's, which is a completely different experience. I take this car when I want to drive the pants off something. Other than that I drive something else.

And even though all of them are focused drivers cars that are appreciating in value, I'm not expecting any of them to be anything like perfect. I treat them all the same, as I've described above.

maw

[TosM3]

Most people

[Obioban]

I'm in the camp of "skip perfect, just keep it as close to stock as possible and enjoy it." Stay out in front of the maintenance curve to stop things from breaking, and when things break or need fixing, fix them. Wash, rinse, repeat and enjoy the car. For reasons we all know (EV, parts support, etc.), the car will always be special just the way it rolled out of the factory. "Fully cooked from the factory" is what's special here, not anything else.

If you maintain and don't destroy that specialty, then the specialty will be maintained and not destroyed. The miles you put on it won't matter one way or another from a specialty perspective, when everyone else is auto-driving some computer box that they can't even control. These are driver focused cars -- a dying breed. Enjoy having one. Keep it up to snuff and enjoy what is demonstrably one of the best cars BMW ever built. And if you actually believe BMWs are "the ultimate driving machine" well... you shouldn't... but there's no harm in that either.



Now, if you're daily driving the car, stop it. Buy a beater. The wear and tear you save on this one will pay for several beaters.

maw

On board with the maintenance. Beyond that, hard disagree. I love DDing M cars (have been for 20 years now), and the car can be vastly improved over stock with some choice mods. Just because stock is good doesn’t mean there isn’t room for significant improvement.

[PSUEng]

Many good points here. I've owned mine since 2007, garaged, fussed over, never daily driven...and it still breaks. So, maw1124 hit it perfectly above and that's exactly what I do: stay ahead of the maintenance and really enjoy what I've only recently come to recognize as a truly great automobile.

[maw1124]

I'm in the camp of "skip perfect, just keep it as close to stock as possible and enjoy it." Stay out in front of the maintenance curve to stop things from breaking, and when things break or need fixing, fix them. Wash, rinse, repeat and enjoy the car. For reasons we all know (EV, parts support, etc.), the car will always be special just the way it rolled out of the factory. "Fully cooked from the factory" is what's special here, not anything else.

If you maintain and don't destroy that specialty, then the specialty will be maintained and not destroyed. The miles you put on it won't matter one way or another from a specialty perspective, when everyone else is auto-driving some computer box that they can't even control. These are driver focused cars -- a dying breed. Enjoy having one. Keep it up to snuff and enjoy what is demonstrably one of the best cars BMW ever built. And if you actually believe BMWs are "the ultimate driving machine" well... you shouldn't... but there's no harm in that either.



Now, if you're daily driving the car, stop it. Buy a beater. The wear and tear you save on this one will pay for several beaters.

maw

[Gt4]

I actually think a perfect car is less enjoyable anyway— then you stress about keeping it that way, instead of actually enjoying the car.

That’s why you need more than one E46 M3; a perfect low mileage car and another one to beat the crap
out of it without feeling guilty!!

[Sharocks]

It's old.

/thread.

[Obioban]

I actually think a perfect car is less enjoyable anyway— then you stress about keeping it that way, instead of actually enjoying the car.

[Tjkenny15]

I've owned my current m3 for almost 8 years now - a lot has changed in my life since ownership. Priorities have changed, focuses have changed. I think chasing a perfect condition e46 m3 is going to be hard, especially if driven daily with no other vehicle in the stable. I have maintenance that needs to be done with mine, but I've put it on the back-burner as it sits for the winter... and probably most of the year in the garage looking pretty (only 8k miles in 8 years).

I'm in my mid-30s and don't suppose I have true wisdom, yet, but I think you'll find greater pleasure/satisfaction in life focusing on building a family legacy and being charitable to others. With that, the rest of life's happiness and fulfillment seems to somehow fall into place.

[Pnick]

Overall, I loved mine when I had it (8-years) and I've taken the attitude my wife used when she met me. She loved most things about me and learned to look pass my shortcomings. That union lasted almost 45-years. Lost my M March 2020. Perfect? Naaah! far from it but I enjoyed every single minute of ownership. I would do it again if I run into one I like. At 70 years old...I ain't got much time...my joints need new bushings!

[MTiz]

For me, it became a lot easier to enjoy driving the car vs keeping it perfect when it started to become apparent that at some point it probably wont' be viable. BMW's part support in general is getting much worse (hasn't really hit the e46 yet in force) and governments are doing everything in their power to end gas cars. If it's not going to be useful in the future, I want to get all the enjoyment I can out of it now.

That said, to your OP, I have no clunks, leaks, or rattles on the M3. Those things I find reasonably easy to stay on top of, on the M3. e60 and e82 both have oil leaks I need to track down...

My front end started clunking again after I fixed it last year (i'm suspecting sway bar links yet again but we will see), my interior has a rattle from...somewhere, but yes the leaks I definitely need to get on top of. My oil pan gasket leaking 3 years after doing rod bearings is highly frustrating, but the other small leaks I know where they are and how to fix them, but just haven't gotten around to them yet.

My E60 is surprisingly bone-dry.

[Obioban]

For me, it became a lot easier to enjoy driving the car vs keeping it perfect when it started to become apparent that at some point it probably wont' be viable. BMW's part support in general is getting much worse (hasn't really hit the e46 yet in force) and governments are doing everything in their power to end gas cars. If it's not going to be useful in the future, I want to get all the enjoyment I can out of it now.

That said, to your OP, I have no clunks, leaks, or rattles on the M3. Those things I find reasonably easy to stay on top of, on the M3. e60 and e82 both have oil leaks I need to track down...

[oceansize]

I did all the maintenance, interior swap, upgrades, etc. and then stopped buying stuff for the car. I haven't bought anything for the M3 in over two years, maybe close to three. For me, the realization was I needed multiple cars that are good enough, not one perfect car (perfection can cost more than multiple cars). I went through a phase where I was convinced I wanted to re-spray my M3, thank god I didn't. It's good enough. I've got a ding in the passenger door, some clear peeling on the bottom of the front bumper, rock chips here and there. I'm fine with that now days. I've got a mustang I'm wrenching on now and the same philosophy will apply, which is have some fun monkeying around on it and then stop buying stuff. Drive it and enjoy all the imperfections. Its funny that I got rid of two cars because they were too nice (the AMG and Mach 1). I've come full circle.

[Gt4]

I think if I was rich I'd probably have it restored from the ground up, or better yet just buy an ultra-low mileage cream puff from EAG or something. But for now, I just fix what I can and what is most important, and try to maximize my behind-the-wheel time as much as possible .

If you are chasing perfection, no one should restore their high mileage M3. It’s a better option to buy one from EAG / super low mileage desirable color combo. Than never drive it, never! Cause it will just get worst from that point!

I have a customer chasing perfection with a car that was winter driven in the past. For the total cost of restoration + initial cost of the car, he could have an Individual color ZCP Slicktop 6mt with less than 10k miles on it for same money…