While I was writing my first post the other night, my wife walked into the den. "I'm writing a post to that forum I've been reading," I told her. She peeked over my shoulder and saw it sitting there, already written, me scrolling back and forth through it. "What are you doing? Are you proof reading it? It's not like your boss is going to read it!" There was that quizzical look on her face again, a genuine curiosity for why I would care so much about such a thing, and a genuine lack of understanding for why. There was no way for me to explain to her why it was important to tell the story properly. All I knew was, if there was one place where I could try and explain it, and where people might understand, it was here at e60.net.

I remember telling my son about the 5, "We're going to keep this car for a long time." It was so good at so many things. Comfortable for drivers and passengers, fun to drive, equally capable of handling the cut and thrust of city traffic as it was to blasting down the highway. Able to hump the entire family's luggage to the airport. It was easily the best car I've ever owned. It may end up being the best car I'll have ever owned. Why did I give it up?

I'm an engineer by trade and there is something that appeals to me about fitness for purpose. The right tool for the job. Efficiency, efficacy, and finesse. The Fiver is an awesome tool, a more highly evolved instrument. Among everyone this point is well understood. One night I was out to dinner with my wife, for a treat, at a restaurant on the water in Seattle. A lovely summer day, we'd finished our dessert and lazily and wandered out to go home. I handed my keys to the valet and he loped off into the parking lot, as valets do, when I saw it. I touched my wife on the arm and pointed, almost whispering, "Look, it's parked in Trophy Row." That's what I call the special section of cars, carefully separated from the rest, where valets park the shinier and more valuable looking vehicles - ostensibly to keep them from getting dinged, but probably to advertise to the guests that yes, beautiful people do dine here. There, nestled among the S-Classes and A8s and Porsches, was our blue 550i. Valets know it, aficienados know it, everyone else knows it - the 5 is something different. Whereas the E-Class I once owned was elegant and stolid, the 5 series has something else entirely. Gravitas. I liken the impression of the 5 to the same impression one gets when they see an F-15 Eagle up close. (Something tells me that I'm not the only one in the forum who also follows aerospace.) Even chocked on the ground, grey and silent, there is something purposeful, powerful - almost ominous - about the Eagle. Your impression is consistent with it's mission: air superiority. The mission of the 5, highway superiority. It's the last step on the ladder before sedans become limosine-like in their size and comfort. If what you need to do is ably manuver in the city after crushing mile after mile of highway blacktop into submission, look no further.

Sadly, that is not my main mission.

To and from work every day is barely 7 miles, with less than half being highway. Where I live the roads are smooth and although traffic can be tight, it is rarely gridlocked. I enter the highway and take the very next exit; the ability to merge and pass is important, cruise power is not as important on a daily basis. The 550i was more than capable of handling this trip. Emphasis on "more". Especially as the cost of gasoline has come up here in the US, the price exacted in car payments and fuel became more incongruous with my engineer's notion of fitness for purpose.

Enter the 335i. It's not even an F-16 to the 5's F-15. There's something gritty about it, something coarse. A snarl, not a purr. The 3 is not a dominator. It's a street fighter. It scraps, it claws, it tears open holes in traffic and wriggles through. When asked, it will eagerly explode through a gap on the highway. On the test drive I deliberately found a clearing and at 60mph, gave it the stick of wide open throttle. The burst of angry acceleration answered my question. Not the same as the always ready, imperturbable, turbine-powered-jungle-cat response of the 550i, but satisfactory nonetheless. Perhaps, in a way, the rawness is more exciting. Part of me finds the 3 to be "more European" than the 5, which somehow makes it more exotic. When I visit Europe I revel in the intimacy of the city streets and the diversity of the vehicles that have evolved there. I imagine the 3 to be well suited to it's mission in that setting. The right tool for the job, in it's native environment.

Either way, I find the following to be true. At the end of the day I still grin inwardly at the thought of driving home. And at the end of a long trip I bet I will still to find myself standing in front of the 3, as I did with the 5, listening to the tick tick tick as it cools and breathing in the smell of hot metal, and saying to it silently - nice job, thanks for bringing me home. I've never owned two of the same brand of car until now, but I didn't even blink at the notion. It was obvious. 5 or 3, they are just different than the rest, and although I miss the samurai coolness of my 550i, I'm glad I get the chance to try both, until the mission changes again. Vive la difference!

 

Not only do you need an outlet for your thoughts (forums aren't exactly the best place to practice lengthy musing; sometimes it's a bit ostentatious ) but an outlet for your automotive curiosities and desires, too.

"Coarse; a snarl; street fighter; claws; scraps," etc.. Me thinks you should test drive the M3. How about tracking your car? I started doing PDEs and now track when I can afford to, and it's very addicting. As we all know, these cars can never really be driven on public streets.

All very subjective adjectives that describe an automobile. But, alas, say nothing concrete. However, that very subjectivity is what motivates our personal choices in cars.

Sounds like copy for a marketing company's campaign. Perhaps you should consider a new profession!

 

Yeah, I should probably start a blog...

 

335i is an amazing BMW. I've had it as a loaner and the sheer power is impressive. While every BMW model has its distinct driving dynamics, it amazes me how BMW can make cars that brings smile every time you drive one.

Enjoy your new 335i.

 

Nice write up. Enjoy the 335. You're not the only one that went from a 5 to a 3 here... I've read of a few.

 

There you go. It could be a nice weekend hobby. Add pics, etc.. Would be fun.

 

The 335i is an awesome car. I was considering it before I decided on the 528i. I just needed more space. Congrats on the 335i and enjoy the drive!

 

Both are great cars but it seems perhaps a tad silly to take a depreciation hit on the 5er just to get the 3er.

That having been said, very well written!

 

little to much like that English essay you had to write your Junior year. Just say it, you wanted something more nimble and fun.

 

I think someone is trying to talk himself into the fact that he made the right decision...or did he?

JK! Enjoy the ride...just had the same decision to make, however the 550i Sport came out on top in my world...