Im a 28 year BMW technician and have been doing this for about 8 years now. I started out in the dealership for the first few years and have since moved my way to independants. I love cars and all things mechanical and feel that I'm very good at what I do. I make good money (55k+annually) but I'm absolutely burned out with the profession. It's hot, dirty, basically unforgiving work. I don't want to be "blue collar" anymore and am ready to make a change while I still can (not married etc). I hate to sound egotistical but I'm a smart guy and I know I'm capable of much better (management, engineering, medical etc) And no, I'm not at all implying that automotive technicians are less than, uneducated etc. I have worked with alot of them that are that way, but there are the guys like myself who take it a step up also.

I never really finished college because I was lured by the money and what I thought would be a career that fed my automotive "passion". I want go back and finish but i honestly don't know what field to get into. I'd love to get into mechanical engineering but 5-6 years of school is daunting, especially when I'll still have to work full-time. I'm definitely apprehensive about the whole thing. Am I stupid for giving up a career making decent money for the dream of something better down the road? Especially in the current eco status?

Just wondering what other mechanically-minded guys out there do for a living and how they got there. Thank you for reading my long post. Looking forward to any replies. Thanks in advance!

-Ben aka "BMWTEK"