My first BMW was an E46 328i. I acquired her in December of '98 as a '99 model. I was one of the first out there riding around in the newly styled 3er. The first thing I noticed after a shakedown cruise from south to central Florida was a lack of driver fatigue. My GS-R, although comfy, wore me out after a ride of that length due to road noise - which leads to louder radio settings - and hard seats. Great for a short sprint, but not for touring. I also noticed the BMW was a tad twitchy. The twitchiness was due to the brand new rubber on the car, after a couple thousand miles it disappeared entirely.
After the first three years I decided she, I named her Steffi long before Andre was in the picture, needed a little more pep. Not wishin to void the warranty I called the fine folks at Dinan to give her the 'S' treatment. She was fitted with a front stress bar, cold air intake, modified engine software, and free flow exhaust. The difference in the mid-range was astounding, it was almost as if she was supercharged. Then tragedy struck. Some nimrod clipped my rear quarter. Then another fool decides to kick in my dirver side rear door panel. Finally, the warranty had run its course right after the windows started to fall from their seals. All told, I'd have to pump a heckuva lot of cash into Steffi to bring her back to mint condition. What to do. I traded her in for a Z4. Although the Z4 is an absolute blast and I love having a convertible, if I had it to do over again I would have kept Steffi. I still miss her. I never thought I'd ever say that about a car. She left quite an impression
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