Man have I been MIA lately. And when that happens, usually there have been some changes going on. And that is certainly true now...don't fret, the M3 is going nowhere. As for the 2 daily drivers....we'll get to that in a bit.
Life's been hectic of late, but nothing most people aren't already dealing with. Now that I'm 13+ months into my new job, I've been very busy of late, as has my wife with her recent promotion. Then you pile on basketball (games & practices) for 2 boys, karate 1-2x week, and free time gets scarce really quickly.
On the M3 front, I continued the overhaul of the front end by swapping in brand new indicators/blinkers, new OEM non-fluted fog lights (with Lamin-X) & fog light surrounds:
Finished the Millenium Falcon Lego set, which is now proudly displayed in our Star Wars themed basement:
Back in September, I met up with the one and only
@Mr. Roboto and a few of his buddies for a Cars and Coffee....later that day, Nick and I grabbed some BBQ before heading out for a spirited drive. Was great to finally meet each other in person and catch up over some delicious food and cold beer:
Then in October, I took my boys to an end of season Cars and Coffee that was organized by the Audrain Car Museum in Newport,RI, where they both got to sit in dad's dream car:
Let's circle back to the daily drivers. With my wife's commute, her X5 was getting up their in miles and was starting to need some work on the drivetrain and a few fluid leaks (because BMW). Local dealership had quoted us around $2000 for all the work. Figuring I'd rather not spend more money on an already higher mileage vehicle, we started shopping around for a replacement. We had some free time one evening where the kids were at my parents house so we started driving around to the usual suspects: Toyota, Honda, Mazda, etc. I had a list of SUVs that I wanted to show her and have her test drive. That was until we drove into the Hyundai dealership and she caught sight of the new Palisade. I know, I know...Hyundai. But she usually doesn't have visceral reactions to vehicles (some exceptions...she's always had a thing for the BMW X6), so I knew she
liked it!! She actually told me we could stop looking and that this is what she wanted. So then I started researching the hell out of the new Palisade (a little tough with an all new vehicle).
We both agreed that the Calligraphy trim was the one we wanted, so I then had her rank her color preferences while I scheduled test drives of the v6 and the all-new hybrid, knowing I was all but sold on the hybrid due to all the YouTube videos I had watched speaking very highly of this setup. Fast forward to November 22nd and we drove 2 hrs to Keene,NH to trade in the X5 and pick up her #1 color choice, Cast Iron Brown Pearl over black:
This thing is fantastic, it really is. 3 rows, has 10x the features the X5 did, rides super comfortably and looks Range Rover-esque, at least from the rear 3/4 view. We plan on having it for a while so I was able to negotiate down an extended warranty thru Hyundai for a pretty cheap price. The dealer kept lowering the price and I kept saying no, and we finally agreed on a comically low price for it, I couldn't pass it up.
We've already put nearly 3000 miles on it in just over 2 months and other than one visit to the dealership for leaking oil (stupidest reason ever....goddamn dip stick wasn't fully inserted), she's been flawless.
So how does that affect me?! Well, my boys have been complaining for a while now that the backseat in the M340i was a bit snug. Not only that, but with all the modifications I've done to the car, it was starting to get to the "preciousness" level of the M3, where I'd be very picky on where and when I'd choose to drive it, which sort of defeats the purpose of a daily driver. Not only that, but with my new job, I'm fully remote so I work from home 99% of the time. I was barely driving the car which was leading to some battery/electrical issues because these newer BMWs have so much damn tech, the batteries are under constant draw.
Oh, not only that, but I got this fun bit of news when I took the car to my local mechanic for an oil change:
These f*ckers built a nest under my gorgeous Dinan Carbon Fiber engine cover, unbeknownst to me. Luckily the mouse/mice hadn't gotten thru the wires themselves, just the insulation, but this was not an ideal situation. The shop taped back up the exposed wires and cleaned out the nest for me, and sent me these photos for my records.
This mouse attack was basically the kick in the *** I needed to start looking for
my next daily driver. I had recently really been eyeballing the new Toyota 4Runner, I think they're fantastic looking. We test drove one as a family, so I could ensure my boys had their say in whether or not the back seat was too small on whatever vehicle I decided on, and wouldn't you know it, the back seat on the 4Runner was pretty damn tight. I almost made the executive decision to still buy one, but I gave it a few days and realized it would be foolish to move on from my M340i with a small back seat to only buy a brand new SUV with a small back seat.
So the search continued, but I had a backup plan the entire time. One specific vehicle I'd loved since its release, and one we had casually looked at for my wife back at the end of summer, a Ford Bronco. And because my automotive reputation has me moving on from daily drivers like tissues, I decided to lease this next vehicle, that way I can decide whether to buy it out when the lease ends, or go in a different direction.
And so I present to you Bertha, my 2025 Bronco Badlands w/ Sasquatch pkg:
With the brutally cold weather of late, I haven't taken many photos of her, yet. These were taken shortly after picking her up from the dealership. But I did take the boys out during the recent snowstorm for some fun in the Bronco:
https://flic.kr/p/2rTE48T
https://flic.kr/p/2rTxBeH
As for the M340i, I was hoping to sell it with all modifications to make things easier on myself, but after weeks of minimal traction and lowering the price, I decided to return her to stock and sell or trade her in that way. The fact that I was trying to sell it in the dead of winter sure wasn't helping, but a luxury/enthusiast dealership in MD actually reached out to me on Facebook and after some back and forth over the course of a few days, sent me an offer I deemed acceptable.
She was picked up on 1/22/26 by the transport company:
I'll for sure miss the car. It sounded amazing and was super fast, but it was time. I've still got the M3 as my fun car, so I'm looking forward to having something big and rugged that I don't need to drive in the same manner that I did with the M340i. It's fun driving over things instead of around them!!
And the HREs fit perfectly in the back of Bertha:
As for the aftermarket parts on the M340i, I had already removed the AWE exhaust, so I was able to sell the exhaust and the HREs separately to recoup some of the money I missed out on when selling the car. And now I have a healthy little "play money" fund to put towards new wheels for the M3. I'm thinking either BBS RSs or BBS LMs, which looks spectacular on the E46 M3 chassis, but need to save up a bit more. Hoping I can make this happen before the start of car season, though.
In the meantime, I ordered a partial carbon fiber trim kit from EuroConnex, which includes the dash trim and shifter surround. I'll buy the armrest/door trim at a later time. This is the kit I ordered, which has a 10-12 week wait time:
Think that about catches you all up on where I'm at these days. Hope you all are well, cheers!
Fair enough!! I still really like them and have no had any issues with them since installation. Pretty sure you'll be happy with the purchase!
