wstr75
05-21-2017, 10:43 AM
From following this board for 2.5 years, it is easy to conclude the folks on this board keep their cars in great shape both from a mechanical and appearance standpoint. Today I passed a BMW 325 convertible having a browned-out rear glass and was bouncing up-down and side-to-side with every road imperfection. The owner was a guy in his 60s and had the look of a guy who has owned the car a long time.
This 325 owner represents the other side of the ownership bell curve from the folks on the ZHP Mafia board. From his car's appearance and suspension jiggles this guy obviously sees his car as transportation and only does the minimum in maintenance and cleaning. Two years ago I was in the parking lot of the Topgolf near downtown Atlanta and walked past a black ZHP convertible in similar shape. It broke my heart to see a special car in such sad shape (interior and exterior).
I recently had a conversation with a guy who owns a E90 335i with 185K miles from new and has done nothing to the suspension. He proudly told me the car was in great shape and looked at me quizzically when I mentioned totally re-furbishing my E46's suspension at 107K miles. I had a similar conversation with a E46 M3 Cabrio owner selling his car with 180K miles and who had owned the car since 60K miles. When asked about suspension refresh and cooling system work (cooling system done at 60K), he said, "none". Up to that point I was seriously contemplating buying his rare Individual model, but got to thinking about how much work immediately needed (probably $3K) together with his asking price and it quickly became a passing thought.
Help me understand why this happens. We can assume some folks don't have the funds to keep their cars in excellent condition. That is probably a given and likely represents an increasing percentage of folks with E46s as the purchase prices keep decreasing with age and mileage. What do you think is the rationale for the folks who have money but do not keep their cars in good condition? Don't care? Don't care about keeping up with the Joneses? No esteem problems? Rather be investing their money in investments that grow over time? What? What? What?
Why do you think the 60 something guy was rolling down the road in a BMW 325 with a badly worn out suspension and a rear window impossible to see through? Inquiring minds want to know.
This 325 owner represents the other side of the ownership bell curve from the folks on the ZHP Mafia board. From his car's appearance and suspension jiggles this guy obviously sees his car as transportation and only does the minimum in maintenance and cleaning. Two years ago I was in the parking lot of the Topgolf near downtown Atlanta and walked past a black ZHP convertible in similar shape. It broke my heart to see a special car in such sad shape (interior and exterior).
I recently had a conversation with a guy who owns a E90 335i with 185K miles from new and has done nothing to the suspension. He proudly told me the car was in great shape and looked at me quizzically when I mentioned totally re-furbishing my E46's suspension at 107K miles. I had a similar conversation with a E46 M3 Cabrio owner selling his car with 180K miles and who had owned the car since 60K miles. When asked about suspension refresh and cooling system work (cooling system done at 60K), he said, "none". Up to that point I was seriously contemplating buying his rare Individual model, but got to thinking about how much work immediately needed (probably $3K) together with his asking price and it quickly became a passing thought.
Help me understand why this happens. We can assume some folks don't have the funds to keep their cars in excellent condition. That is probably a given and likely represents an increasing percentage of folks with E46s as the purchase prices keep decreasing with age and mileage. What do you think is the rationale for the folks who have money but do not keep their cars in good condition? Don't care? Don't care about keeping up with the Joneses? No esteem problems? Rather be investing their money in investments that grow over time? What? What? What?
Why do you think the 60 something guy was rolling down the road in a BMW 325 with a badly worn out suspension and a rear window impossible to see through? Inquiring minds want to know.