There were a few cars I was emotionally attached to in my life. And to this day, I regretted losing EVERY SINGLE ONE of them.
I hope that's not going to be the case here for you.
My first BMW was a 1997 Z3 1.9L. 5 speed manual in Boston green with beige top and interior. Not a lot of power but it was fun to drive, and in Southern California the top was rarely up unless it's raining. Now a days whenever I see a clean Z3 I always feel a ping of guilt, and have on numerous occasions thought about pulling a trigger on a low-ish mileage 1.9L just for fun. Alas they're getting harder and harder to find, and frankly, most are in pretty poor condition because the 1.9L was the unloved step-child in the family.
My second BMW was a 2000 E46 323Ci. It was the car that got me on the track, and got me interested in mechanical work on the car. I swapped out just about every thing under the sun, did 99% of all the maintenance on it, and my wife even accused me of loving THAT car more than her (Little did she know that I would eventually get the MZ4 Coupe). It was eventually sold to one of the jr. mechanics at my friend's shop when it suffered a busted strut tower when I went over a large pothole during one of the few torrential downpours in Southern California that destroyed 2 forged BBS RGR wheels. The repairs far out-paced the value of the car, and in hindsight, I probably should have just sacked up and repaired it and kept it. It wasn't fast for a track car, but I was able to keep up with faster cars (330is and some E36 M3s) driven by inferior drivers. But most importantly, it was the car I learned to drive on track with.
And the MZ4 Coupe.
Throughout the year I've been asked by the Missus to sell the MZ4 Coupe and get something practical to accommodate for the family. And it's a compelling argument. Logic would dictate, that for us, the MZ4 Coupe makes no practical sense, especially now that it's basically been relegated to just track and weekend driving, and we can't even go out to dinner in it because we can't take our daughter. The sad truth is, my daughter has ridden in the MZ4 Coupe more in the last 10 years than my wife has. And despite the least amount of miles driven, it's the most expensive to maintain simply because of the 6 bottles of 10W-60 it consumes on an annual basis.
But the answer to her request has always been a simple "no." Even now, as I contemplate adding another horse to the stable, her demand of selling the MZ4 Coupe in order to free up space in the garage for the possible new addition was met with a simple "no." Because I know the second it's sold and I hand over the keys, I will regret it for the rest of my life.
So despite the 2,000 miles I put on it a year now, the bulk of it on track, and the obsessive cleaning I do on it, and the amount of annual consumables (6 bottles of 10W-60, 3 bottles of Motul 600) far outpacing all the other cars in the garage combined...The MZ4 Coupe isn't going anywhere for as long as I live.
