Why i love Bmw

[Mytfine]

So let's talk about why we love the brand

This is a long post.

For me it started with my Dad.

He was old school, was a fitter and Turner by trade and did all his own panel and mechanical work. He never owned a fwd car, changed his car every year and been an average earner in the 80's and 90's ( he passed away in 93 when I was 10) started with Ford but always lusted after a BMW.

1st BMW he bought was a 89 e30 320 imanual which he purchased in 91. Oh man he was so excited. Didn't tell my mum took me to trade his 1400 bakkie in and pick it up. I remember even now the 6 cylinder sound and the couple of power slides on the way home. I felt like my dad had the greatest car on the world. The component test computer on the ceiling, holy shit is this a spaceship. Pressing the test button felt like my joy in life.

I think maybe 2 years later he upgraded to an e34 525 and I was in love like never before. The shape , the tech and the SPEED. My dad never used to open it up unless it was him alone or him and me and it felt like it was just our bonding time.

Fast fwd to 92 my dad was hijacked and seriously injured and had to cut back on work so be downscale back to a 1400 bakkie, but a week before he passed away ( it's like he knew it was his last) in June 93 he and I went to a dealer ship and he picked up a 91 e30 325i manual in dolphin grey. We then surprised my mum at work who was not impressed actually she was pissed, but my fathers words I have to drive a BMW again before I die still echo with me.

My 1st bm was an 89 535 that i bought in 2000. I could have bought a newer car but the e34 for me was just heaven. I spent an obscene amount of money getting and keeping it just right and with the help of Shaun from tunetech it dyoned a healthy 165kw at the wheels. What a machine it was. Later was a e30 325, e46 318, e90 320, x5 4.8 and various other brands in between.

For me I love the 6 cylinder engine noise, the rear wheel drive , the heavy albeit assisted steering, the driver centric cockpit and orange lights.

I cannot afford any new BM but have a 2005 e46 325i station wagon as my weekend baby. She is mint and has a full koni suspension and God do i love her


That's what the GTI brigade dont get. It's not the 0 to 100 times or top speed that matters. It's the joy it gives you behind the wheel, the satisfaction of the perfectly timed power slide around the local
Traffic circle, the pull of a big six at high rpm, the smoothness of the overall car.

Well anyway that's why I love and will always love a BMW. 6 cylinder even more.

 

[VinceM]

Interesting topic,

I bet there will be more that were drawn to the brand from seeing an E30.

I also fell in love with the brand when my uncle who worked for BMW drove a new 1990 325i E30. He was one of the managers at the Rosslyn plant, he could come home with their latest offerings, every so often he would change cars.

My dream car was a 325ci, he pulled in with it within weeks of been launched in SA. I told myself then as a high school pupil that one day I’ll drive that machine, in manual guise. Fast forward to today, I own one.

Key question: why the love for the brand.
I think, BMW has always been distinctive.
The kidney grilles, the rear wheel drive, the near perfect weight distribution, the road feedback from the steering, above-average road handling, the driver focused cockpit, the floor mounted acceleration paddle, the sonorous straight six, the corona rings, dash simplicity, fit and finish, man I can go on…..I have owned more than 10 BMs and am still in love with the brand. Though sometimes I feel the new cars are pulling away from the ethos and heart of BMW.

Even if I had lotto money, I’d still keep a BMW (M car).


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[TBP88]

Also a generational thing, as a small kid my grandfather had a 323i E30, if I recall it was maroon, about a year before he died he bought a E36 325i automatic in maroon as well which my dad bought from my grandma after my grandfather died.

That was our family car up into my teens before my dad moved on from BMW, the love for the brand was piqued with the release of the E46M3, high revving, N/A, saw it for the first time at the Helsinki auto show in that hideous phoenix yellow and it was (and is) the ultimate.

At varsity in 1st yr I remember walking through the campus parking lot (the fanciest transport I had at the time was a jammie shuttle) and seeing a black on red interior Z4M coupe, it looked amazing and having the same fundamental ingredients as the E46M3 was obviously a dream. Fast forward 10yrs and a few broken Alfa Romeos and I found myself in the position to own that very car.

I'm not sure, looking at the state of the brand today, that I'll ever own another BMW (or at least I can't see myself owning a new one), but having owned one I can see why people do love the brand and appreciate what it represents. A true drivers car, capable enough, usable enough and fast enough to put a smile on your face without being so fast that any mistake equates to death. Something you can take out and feel special in at 100km/h.

 

[MR_Y]

You deserve a Bells!
Well said
"That's what the GTI brigade dont get. It's not the 0 to 100 times or top speed that matters. It's the joy it gives you behind the wheel,"

 

[flyhid]

The 328 convertible is what drew me to the brand.
The first time I saw that car I knew I had to own one and never looked back…..


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[MR_Y]

British Racing Green E36 325i, with beige leather. Always wanted that since I was 10 years old.

 

[zabbo]

Hi, my name is xxxx and I was converted to BMW from FORD!!

Our family owned a number of fast Fords as I was growing up. These included a couple of Sierra XR6's, Sapphire 3.0s and then a Sapphire 3.3 and a Basil Green Sapphire 3.4 (Gunston Colours). My first car was a Sierra XR6.

As a teen, the car poster on my wall was a Lamborghini Countach 5000s (almost as prized as the Cindy Crawford poster in my cupboard ) and I attended the weekly street racing events where there the main rivals were the likes of BMW 535s and 325is, Sierras, Skyline GTX and some Opels and Datsuns too.

But down the road lived a family of petrol heads, with the latest and most "exotic" of cars, cars which I could only but dream of owning and I would hear them roaring down the road and I would run to the window to see their beasts come flying past our house. I was like a hyper kitten running up and down in our house whenever I heard their cars coming down the road. We became friends and soon I was a passenger in their cars on a regular basis. This is where I first experienced the BRAND .... BMW. Our Fords were fast and some were quite unique but sitting in an e36 325i at full throttle reaching 250km/h with ease or looking at that beautiful Blue Metallic beast with Hartge wheels was just too wonderful. Ogling their beautiful M635csi from afar and to see it being so meticulously maintained was inspiring. The shiny unblemished paint and the overwhelming smell of Ultimoil brings back such wonderful memories. Taking one of the very first test Avus Blue e36 M3s for a run on the highway with a salesman clinging on for dear life was priceless!!
BMW, a brand that touches your soul ..... or rather imagine driving down a busy main road on a Saturday morning in a 750iL at speeds in excess of what can be mentioned here and you feel completely at ease as a passenger having full trust in both the pilot and the bohemoth of a car that you are in swerving through the traffic without any drama ... that is a feeling that touches your soul. This family not only introduced me to BMW but made me a big fan.

So while I may still love Fast Fords, the love and loyalty for a particular car brand was swiftly shifted over to BMW. There was no other mainstream car brand that consistently delivers in all aspects of a motoring enthusiasts requirements - Looks, performance, comfort, status, driving dynamics and quality!

I have owned an e30, numerous e36s, a couple of e46's and a couple of F30s. I will make sure that there is always an M car in my garage and I believe I will drive a BMW until I leave this place!

 

[Mytfine]

I got 7 years left (that's when both my kids finish university)till I can park an M car in my garage.

 

[Benji]

Funny enough, I never liked BMWs as a kid, I thought they were not as classy as Mercs. My dad and grandad both drove a Merc W123 before my dad was converted to Volvos. When I was about 12, a friends dad had a E34 525, I remember flying on the Capetown highways at 200kph with all the windows and sunroof open, what an experience that was, but somehow I remained unswayed. My dad then accidentally owned a E32 750iL for a few months, I was about 13, that thing was a beast! I remember driving from KZN to JHB at night, speedo sitting at 200kph and it felt like we were going 100

Those were my initial small glimpses into the BMW world. I finally became thoroughly converted when I accidentally bought a E34 M5 as a track toy. What a car! I then bought a 525i and a 540, you could say I was hooked. My partner has even asked me what this sudden craze with BMWs is all about, I used to be a Merc guy

I have not really been exposed to smaller BMWs, but the things I love about BMW is the balance between sport and comfort, the feeling of invincibility you get when cruising in a 5 or 7 series. That sonorous straight six or V8 and the tail sliding out so controllably at the slightest whim. The mechanical integrity and general ease of working on the cars. The looks, coherence of design and simplicity of the older BMWs is the cherry on the cake.

Finally an honorable mention to BMW as a company. Of all the brands I have been exposed to, they seem to support the enthusiast. The aftermarket support, community, forums, assembly diagrams, service manuals and parts supply and prices are second to none.

 

[Tino335]

That's what the GTI brigade dont get. It's not the 0 to 100 times or top speed that matters. It's the joy it gives you behind the wheel...

Then again, the "GTi brigade" feels the same about their brand... They also feel that the evolution of GTi is something to hold on to.
I certainly felt that way when I had a CTi in matric.

I feel that way towards Nissan and Ford as well.
I may be branded as a draadsitter, but I just have some kind of other feeling about cars. I've owned VW, Opels (even a 380GSiV6) and more, but I'll always have a BMW. Most importantly, my e30.

Heck, blasphemous as it may be, I have a RB in my e30. After going through a lot of BMW motors, repairs, upgrades, and money, I was just in the position to take one motor that I adore, and shove it into a car that I'm absolutely smitten with to this day. Minimal fuss, minimal drama.