My dad was always a car guy. From his high school days in the 1960s with a 1966 Mustang fastback and Buick GS400, to a VW Beetle during his college years, and the early days of his career, a 1973 914 and 1975.5 924.
Then the ‘80s rolled in and it was time to buy a house and have kids. He sold his 924, my mom sold her Audi Fox, and they bought a house. In the driveway, a non-matching pair of Mazda 323s. My dad’s a gray manual sedan, my mom a red GLC hatch with an auto.
The nineties were a blur of various Nissans and Infinitis. Let’s not talk about that.
In 2000 after a series of promotions, surviving testicular cancer, and feeling much more comfortable financially, he took me to the BMW dealer. We test drove a new 2001 330i sport package and were blown away with the power delivery, dynamics, interior design, and just how solid the car felt. My mom gave him permission to order one but unfortunately insisted on an automatic in case she ever wanted to drive it (spoiler alert: she never drove it).
Steel Grey Metallic over black leather with real, fingerprint-magnet aluminum trim. Sport package with M-Tech front bumper, style-68 wheels, xenon headlights, manual sport seats, and a deep exhaust note that reverberated throughout the house when he pulled in from work.
He was also generous with it. In its drivers’ seat I learned to drive, and in the back, I would eventually lose my virginity. The handling dynamics that BMW was known for, and the brilliantly thought-out interior would set the standard for all cars I drove going forward.
After nine years and around 150k miles it was feeling a bit worn out and trips to the service department had become far too frequent. On one such visit, upon wandering into the showroom, he spotted what would become his next BMW.
A custom order never picked up, it was a 2010 328i in Platinum Bronze Metallic over Saddle Brown leather with burl walnut trim. It was interestingly optioned. Sport, Premium, and Value packages, adaptive xenon headlights, heated sport seats with inflatable bolsters, power rear sunshade and side window shades, welcome lighting, and gloss black shadow line trim. No iDrive, which neither of us were a fan of.
Sure, it wasn’t the 335is he’d hoped for, but we weren’t in the economy we’d hoped for either. He signed the papers and drove it home.
While not as raw as the E46, it was a huge upgrade in creature comforts and reliability. In fact, it was freakishly reliable, and in the eleven years and 103k miles he owned it, not once did it require an unplanned visit to the service department.
He threw a few upgrades at it as well. Front and rear M3 control arms and a thicker rear sway bar dialed in the already incredibly responsive steering. A three-stage intake and tune gave it a satisfying 265hp. For the exterior, a set of black kidney grills and 17” style-32s in a square setup resulted in a subtle but noticeable transformation.
From 2010–2022 we shared custody of the 328i. We both had other cars to enjoy, but this little, unassuming 3 Series was our favorite.
At one point he investigated ordering an F31 330i Touring, but to equip it as well as the E90, the price shot up into the mid-$60ks, and that was a hard sell for a four-cylinder.
In late-2018 my father was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Within a year it was in remission, but now in his mid-70s we knew he didn’t have much time left. When Covid restrictions loosened in the late summer of 2020, I took him on a month-long trip out to California. For transportation I rented a 2021 330i through Sixt. When they gave it to me it only had 100 miles on the odometer.
Our brief California companion, a 2021 330i xDrive rented through Sixt.
Flying into San Francisco, made our way down the coast to Santa Cruz and Carmel-by-the-Sea. For a week we spent our days attending the Pebble Beach Concours, Gooding & Co. auctions, and historic races at Laguna Seca. At night we explored Route 9 and the surrounding area in the 330i.
The futuristic G20 was a much more substantial car than the E90 we’d been used to. Old BMW technology tended to work behind the scenes, this new era was more in your face. The car was larger, yet more powerful, and while the electric steering wasn’t as direct, it wasn’t worse - just different.
Making our way down Highway 1 from Big Sur to Los Angeles, our internet-fueled negativity towards modern BMW began to wear off. While not the most exciting car in the world, it was still an evolution of the world’s best sports sedan, and the BMW DNA was evident.
Upon arrival in Los Angeles, our rental contract was up, and while I was sad to turn it in, I had a 1967 Porsche 912 waiting for us – but that’s a story for another time.
In the months that followed, my dad’s health declined, but our experience with the G20 330i stuck with him, and the idea of a new car would give him something to look forward to. After missing out on an E90 335i, the choice was obvious – an M340i. However, his walker wouldn’t fit in the trunk. Enter the GranCoupe.
Sure, the front end of the 4-Series is aesthetically challenged, but in my opinion, the side and rear profile views are some of the best work BMW has done in recent times. With its gigantic hatch and fold-down seats, fitting his walker wasn’t an issue, nor would his wheelchair be as time went on.
During the chip shortage, car makers had to be selective with the options they offered, and with the GranCoupe situated a bit higher than the normal 3-Series in the lineup, there were options you could get that weren’t available on the three series. We chose all of them, with the exception on extended shadowline on the grill and side-mirrors.
Brooklyn Grey over Mocha Vernasca Leather with Ash Grey trim, Driver’s Assistance Pro Package, Parking Assistance Package, Premium Package, High Performance Package with an oil cooler, larger brakes plus 19” wheels, stitched dashboard, ventilated seats, heated steering wheel, Harmon Kardon, adaptive suspension, and laser headlights.
We knew there was a chance some options would be dropped, and it was stressful hearing reports of peoples’ cars arriving without touch screens, electric tail gates, or power seats. It was also held up in port for a few months waiting on the chip for the Harmon Kardon system. Our BMW salesman of 20+ years really dropped the ball and provided zero updates. We later found out he quit unexpectedly and moved to the local Porsche dealer. I feel sorry for anyone trying to buy a 911 from him.
By the time it was delivered, my dad’s cancer was back in full swing along with early signs of dementia. He got a chance to drive the car a few times, but the modern interfaces were a bit too distracting and confusing for him to handle. So the car was handed over to me.
He did get to experience it, though from the passenger seat, to and from every doctor’s appointment and hospital visit, along with leisurely drives whenever he felt up to it.
The M440i with xDrive is an incredible machine. Everything that could be said about the B58 has already been said, and the hybrid boost eliminated any turbo lag. The ZF 8-speed with BMW’s programming was lightning quick in manual mode, but in Sport+ never had me wishing to be in a different gear. iDrive wasn’t bad either – you still had the puck controller, could turn off the horrible Italian gesture controls, CarPlay was seamlessly integrated, and there were still physical buttons for HVAC controls. All the driver’s assistance options were impressive, but I didn’t make much use of them aside from on a few seven-hour trips.
The rear-biased xDrive allowed it to be just as toss-able and swingable as any RWD car, and the electronically controlled limited-slip differential helped straighten things out once you were sideways. 110mph felt like 65, and I happened to get a speeding ticket in the first week. With a set of Bridgestone Pilot Alpins it was a monster in the snow – it was the first time I burnt through a set of winter tires in one season.
My only complaint was that the US-market sport seats do not provide enough lateral support if you’re not as large as the average American. The E90’s inflatable bolsters were sorely missed.
My father would pass a little over a year after receiving the car, and I held onto it for around a year afterwards. The used car market was still at an all-time high, and its resale value was too tempting not to let it go.
Over the past twenty-five years, my dad and I had many exciting cars in our respective garages, but the BMW 3/4-Series was always present, and always set the standard upon which other cars were judged.
It’s tough to pick a favorite out of the generations. While the E46 was the purest and best-looking, over the past few decades they’ve shown to deteriorate both inside and out. The E90 was strikingly reliable, and the steering and chassis dynamics punched well above its price range. The G26 had gobs of power and impressive technology, but it was a pig in the corners and while fun, felt very disconnected from the road. I could definitely see myself acquiring an E90 M3 sometime in the future.