The BMW story… so far!

Club member Andrew Gardner shares his BMW story, from his first E46 330ci to the cars he enjoys today, with a few memorable moments along the way.

We’d love to hear from other members too. Whether it’s your first BMW, a favourite road trip or a car you wish you’d never sold, submit your story through our contact form and share it with the club.

My passion for BMW is about the driving experience and the cars both past and present. So no fettling reports or in-depth restoration updates I’m afraid, just a sharing of a few lovely cars and the story!

Having had the pleasure of running an Alfa 156 for three years (wasn’t it Jeremy Clarkson who said you’re not a true petrolhead until you’ve owned an Alfa Romeo!), I came over from the dark side in March 2004 when I took delivery of my first BMW, an E46 330ci coupe with six speed manual from Barons in Hindhead. I remember the day of collection very well and all the anticipation and excitement that went with taking delivery of a rather nice sporting coupe.

The dealership also had a new and unregistered E46 M3 CSL in the showroom. Near slick tyres, uncomfy looking fixed seats and being a bit outside of my budget meant that was where that car would remain! I remember the salesman’s comment at the time, ‘we just cannot sell these!’ If only I knew then what we all know now!

I’ve also heard that a ‘basic’ CSL, so with halogen lamps not Xenons and without satnav or climate control, is today potentially worth more than one that was spec’d up a bit in the factory. Interesting!

Anyway my E46 in the same silver grey metallic was my daily and work car covering 50k miles in the three and a half years or so that I owned it. A superb car that I thoroughly enjoyed but as you do when going through your car ownership journey, you soon start to look to the next one and finding a fitting replacement.

In November 2007 I part exchanged it for an E92 335i Msport with auto box and paddle shift. It was less than three months old, the previous owner I was told kept his Beemers for a maximum of three months before changing. He’d just taken delivery of an E92 M3 coupe with an X5 on order to replace that three months down the line. Oh well each to their own!

So I enjoyed a fully loaded 335 Msport, that even had adaptive Xenons with high beam assist, something new back then, they sort of worked but definitely needed improvement! That car was quick with effortless acceleration throughout the rev range, the twin turbos gave it instant punch from under 1500 rpm. I guess this was the start of the new direction BMW were taking with forced induction petrol engines.

It produced 75bhp more than the 231bhp M54 engine in the 330ci, coming from the same 2979cc, plus a shed load of extra torque. 306bhp today seems a little tame when compared with the power output from the latest ‘M performance’ engines and an M car aside, it was pretty exciting at the time.

I owned the 335 for just 12 months, sadly redundancy in 2008 would force its sale later that year when the £400 road tax renewal came round.

So in November 2008 I straight swapped it for a pre registered manual E86 Z4 3.0si with 25 miles on the clock. The E86 was certainly raw in comparison but was a very cool car that we enjoyed until I had to accept reality and financially downsize to something cheaper and more practical. My Mother, at the time in her eighties always loved a run out in that car even allowing for the effort it took getting her into it and more to the point getting her back out again! Nevertheless we said farewell to the Z4 in the late summer of 2009 and that was the end of my relationship with BMW for a while but the memory of that E86 lived on.

So in 2014 I acquired our 2011 E89 Z4, partly in homage to my Mum, as our second car. You may have seen the car at Tulleys and Deutschmarques. It is a 30sdrive in Msport spec with the naturally aspirated N52 engine coupled to a six speed manual transmission. The N52 engine was of course withdrawn in the Zeds in 2012 bringing the straight six non turbo era to a sad end.

I believe there are fewer than 100 UK registered examples of my particular Z4 on the road and a similar number in the slightly later Msport Highline spec.

3 litre non turbo Msports with a manual box just seem rare and to date I have yet to come across another.

It’s always a roof down car (yes heated seats, heater blowers turned up and a decent woolly hat are what’s needed in winter!), which in my view is the way to truly enjoy the engaging drive of a Z roadster. Over 12 years of ownership it’s needed a replacement steering rack and has had a hydraulics problem on the roof mechanism, both a bit of an ouch financially but otherwise it’s been spot on. Moving away from run flat tyres has made a big difference too. This car remains a keeper!

In 2016 we were back with BMW for the ‘daily’ and my work car, acquiring an F32 430d 4 series Gran Coupe. I spec’d that car with adaptive sports suspension, Xdrive, head up display, adaptive LEDs, comfort access, glass sunroof, Harman Kardon, all handy bits to have on a car that would do quite a high mileage over the four years I would have it.

In September 2020 it was part exchanged for our current daily, a G02 X4 M40i. It is the most all round capable BMW I have owned to date that definitely has road presence. It has a kinder ride when compared with the X4M Competition but still delivers effortless performance. It’s disappointing that BMW have discontinued the X4 ICE model range, what to go for next is a bit of a quandary.

And finally, rekindling the memory of the 330ci, a car it took a few years to realise that I did regret selling, I now have a 2005 E46 M3 coupe, bought through Munich Legends in 2019.

The E46 is in my view a classic design, possibly one of the most desirable and with the S54 engine (that metallic howl is just addictive), plus six speed manual, you could argue is one of the perfect cars from BMW M.

The car is a completely original example with fully documented history and is on 56k miles as I write this, with me being its third custodian.

It’s in pretty good nick if I may say so for 21 years of age! So I missed out on the CSL, but this one was definitely a timely find!