Mystikal-
Surprisingly, I don't feel that way. Aside from my steering retrofit debacle, my problems have been related to rattles (which I think we all have but some of us notice more than others)- and this whining sound-- which was actually fixed quickly and effectively w/ the butyl tape. I haven't had any type of mechanical or electrical problem. My main source of agony is that I've been to several dealers multiple times trying to figure out what's wrong w/ my steering after the retrofit. It feels like it wanders a lot and doesn't have a firm on-center feeling. There's a possibility that i'm just imagining things, since of course i'm now very sensitive to steering feel-- but i'm going to try and meet up w/ another postr on this board so that I can drive another retro'd car and know if mine is "normal" or not.
I admit that in my darker moments I consider trading the car for something else, but:
-I could end up having much, much worse problems w/ another car.
-What would I get? Every car out there has some much more "fatal flaw" in design, feel, cost, and/or predicted reliability etc that would make it very hard for me to choose something better. This includes the 02 3 series w/ the funny front bumper and rear lights-- i just can't quite warm up to it.
I have learned that one of the things I really value in a car is the traditional german "vault-like" build, feel and material quality. That means strong self-centering steering, absolutely no rattles or squeaks, no cheesy plastics, perfect fit and finish, solid deep door thunk sound, overall solid feeling when driving. The new car that comes closest to this ideal would be an e39 5 series-- but its a bit too expensive and a bit too big for my tastes. Short of that, a used pre-1995 Mercedes would also fit the bill, but I think i'd end up being unhappy w/ the handling. The pinnacle of build quality to me would be those late 70s, early 80s Merc ("E classes"), I think they were called the W123-- the ones you still see chugging around in europe as taxis with over a million miles on them.
So, my 2001 3 series ends up being the best balance of looks, performance, practicality, build-quality, and cost for my tastes/needs. I might consider getting an end-of-run 330i sp in 2005 (or whenever it is) so I could get an E46 w/ all of the bugs worked out (and probably a good deal). I think the e46 is going to be the last BMW that I'll like--so doing this would kind be like storing up food for a long winter.
Sorry for the long and off-topic post (and going into way too much detail).
