Quote:
Originally Posted by admranger
Propellerhead: Have fun on the rest of your journey!
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Damn right! And thanks.
If I want to run a track, I'll jump in my 1975 2002 that I've owned for 30 years. To suggest that each model of BMW offers anything but it's own 'Ultimate Driving Experience' is both short sighted and a knee jerk reaction to a successful marketing campaign. I really don't care what *BMW* has to say about my experience. I have driven the E53 because I believe it to be the most capable car of it's type at it's time. The same is true for the 2002.
17 years on, surely there exists more capable offerings in the class, but I don't own them. I own mine. And I like mine. The same is true for the '02. I'm not as enthusiastic about the 2002 E46 (our *other* '02), but it's my wife's daily. I still love my E39 after 16 years, too. I made that thing into my own version of what I wanted. Silly for a sedan and way, way slower- even SC'ed- than a lot of newer cars, but they're not mine. The E39 is.
Finally, when you're on a trip like this in a car like this, you make efforts to use the toy you've got. Rather than peeling off at 70 in a Camry, you might curl your toes and make that tight squeeze at speed in a BMW. One of my favorite roads in the country is 89A between Sedona, AZ and Flagstaff. In a POS rental, I'd be stuck behind the motor homes that tow other POS'es. In the E53, I have both the power and the agility to get 5 people where we want to go at the speed at least *one* of us wants to get there.
I've driven 89A in my E39 twice and my E53 3x's. This trip will likely chalk up #'s 4 and 5. I've done it in a few rentals. The road is over 1300 miles away from home. I think about that road like a man thinks about a bad woman. I get to see her again in two weeks. Ohhhh, yes.
A close second is US 50 along the Royal Gorge in Colorado. (
The loneliest road) I'd spend 12 hours on cruise control to drive that road again. It's not only beautiful, it's some of the best cruising over 80mph that you'll ever do- if you have the nerve or a car that you know can take it.
Like life, these trips and these drives aren't about the dull moments. They're about the excitement, the fun times, the odd chance your wife says to take the 'maintained road' through a desert. Maybe a car is just an appliance to a lot of folks. Maybe it is to me as well. But after 20 years with my last washer and dryer, you better believe I take time to research and make the very best choices when I buy an appliance.
Who doesn't?
Car getting a fresh detail tomorrow in downtown Seattle. Mr Detail, I think? It's got bugs and crap all over it. I want it to look nice when I see my girls on Sunday!
