[E93Seattle (Racerbruce)]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

Between my wife and I we owned a 1989 E30 325i for 18 years and 256,000 miles. It's a difficult argument to make between the E30 and E90 of which one owns the title of "The Ultimate Tank Machine". I think what is most liked about the E30 design is it still had just a tinge of the 1970's shark nose element left in it. Selling the E30 was one of those moments you could take back and redecide. I was trying to keep the fleet count down at the time in 2006 (which eventually didn't work - lol).

I'm not a big fan of Japanese hardware, but the 510 is one of my favorites, perhaps subconsciously because it was imaged after the BMW 1600.

indeed, the bmw 1600 was the impetus for datsun design elements of the 510; i attend vintage road racing events in the pacific nw and there are always a fleet of datsun 510's race-prepared....and the ultimate example from the day was the Brock Racing Enterprises (BRE) 510 race car that won numerous SCCA national events in its class.

you continue to cement the time-honored title of mr longevity....you have posted yet another example of ownership exceeding .25 million miles....

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by E93Seattle (Racerbruce)

indeed, the bmw 1600 was the impetus for datsun design elements of the 510; i attend vintage road racing events in the paciic nw and there are always a fleet of datsun 510's race-prepared....and the ultimate example from the day was the Brock Racing Enterprises (BRE) 510 race car that won numerous SCCA national events in its class.

you continue to cement the time-honored title of mr longevity....you have posted yet another example of ownership exceeding .25 million miles....

Well... then there is my wife's Z3. It sits at 198,000 as of last week and will hit 27 years old come February 2024. She's the original owner of course, I do all the maintenance.

[E93Seattle (Racerbruce)]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

Well... then there is my wife's Z3. It sits at 198,000 as of last week and will hit 27 years old come February 2024. She's the original owner of course, I do all the maintenance.

well done efthreeoh -
ok, the obvious question....

with the incredible documented repair & maintenance history of your fleet....please tell us the aggregate miles of your fleet over the years-to-date.

i'm guessing 1.25-1.50 mm miles.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by E93Seattle (Racerbruce)

well done efthreeoh -
ok, the obvious question....

with the incredible documented repair & maintenance history of your fleet....please tell us the aggregate miles of your fleet over the years-to-date.

i'm guessing 1.25-1.50 mm miles.

My total lifetime miles driven is just north of 1.6M (most of that is documented in some form or fashion)

I'll break down the BMWs:

5 total BMWs from 1988 to 2023:
Total Chassis miles - 1.31M
Total driven miles - 1.008M (two cars bought used)
Average age of fleet - 19.2 years

[E93Seattle (Racerbruce)]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

My total lifetime miles driven is just north of 1.6M (most of that is documented in some form or fashion)

I'll break down the BMWs:

5 total BMWs from 1988 to 2023:
Total Chassis miles - 1.31M
Total driven miles - 1.008M (two cars bought used)
Average age of fleet - 19.2 years

UNREAL!
this is a bmw sales & marketing opp if i've ever seen one....you should be on a tv commercial with the fleet....i say you pitch the idea to bmw usa.

[jsunma]

Originally Posted by E93Seattle (Racerbruce)

UNREAL!
this is a bmw sales & marketing opp if i've ever seen one....you should be on a tv commercial with the fleet....i say you pitch the idea to bmw usa.

Well, he's no Irv Gordon, but then again Irv's dead...so Efthreeoh has that going for him.

On a serious note, I think that there's something to be said here about well-engineered (with notable, much commented-upon, exceptions) cars that are well-maintained and that the owner extends the necessary effort to keep on the road. In today's disposable society, most users don't know or don't care about how to keep a car on the road. Efthreeoh has shown us what's possible. Anyone could do follow suit if so-desired.

[E93Seattle (Racerbruce)]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

My total lifetime miles driven is just north of 1.6M (most of that is documented in some form or fashion)

I'll break down the BMWs:

5 total BMWs from 1988 to 2023:
Total Chassis miles - 1.31M
Total driven miles - 1.008M (two cars bought used)
Average age of fleet - 19.2 years

efthreeoh!
my 100 mile round trip drive yesterday to seattle....my odometer made the big advance to 39,000 miles!

i kept looking and imagined my odometer reaching 390,000....in my dreams.

oh, and 41F top-down both ways

[StradaRedlands]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

Between my wife and I we owned a 1989 E30 325i for 18 years and 256,000 miles. It's a difficult argument to make between the E30 and E90 of which one owns the title of "The Ultimate Tank Machine". I think what is most liked about the E30 design is it still had just a tinge of the 1970's shark nose element left in it. Selling the E30 was one of those moments you could take back and redecide. I was trying to keep the fleet count down at the time in 2006 (which eventually didn't work - lol).

I'm not a big fan of Japanese hardware, but the 510 is one of my favorites, perhaps subconsciously because it was imaged after the BMW 1600.

E30 is tank status for me... the only problems were fuel pumps going out, and I think a radiator hose once. Probably 200k miles over three different cars. I had no idea that engines could leak so much oil until I got into E90s!

[E93Seattle (Racerbruce)]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

Saaawwweeettt! Seat warmers?

I had the wind blocker for my E46 cabrio, seat warmers and the blocker made it a 3 season car.

well done!
you had creature comfort covered.

very interesting, my 2013 335is cabrio has seat heaters but NO steering wheel heater....whatsupwiththat??

in the same spirit, my (dealy departed) 2007 z4m roadster the same....NO steering wheel heater....wouldn't ya think that the cars with "removable" roofs would be the ones with the freaking steering wheel heater??

we've owned a number of BMW's and many of them had/have steering wheel heaters, but not the ones with removable roofs??

[Hoody007]

Originally Posted by E93Seattle (Racerbruce)

well done!
you had creature comfort covered.

very interesting, my 2013 335is cabrio has seat heaters but NO steering wheel heater....whatsupwiththat??

in the same spirit, my 2007 z4m roadster the same....NO steering wheel heater....wouldn't ya think that the cars with "removable" roofs would be the ones with the freaking steering wheel heater??

we've owned a number of BMW's and many of them had steering wheel heaters, but not the ones with removable roofs??

It’s an M Sport thing. The nicer steering wheel didn’t offer a heated option. You should be able to retrofit a heated E89 Z4 wheel though. I had a regular sport heated steering wheel in my old 335i. Was so nice in winter! The M Sport steering wheel is way better though.

[E93Seattle (Racerbruce)]

Originally Posted by Hoody007

It’s an M Sport thing. The nicer steering wheel didn’t offer a heated option. You should be able to retrofit a heated E89 Z4 wheel though. I had a regular sport heated steering wheel in my old 335i. Was so nice in winter! The M Sport steering wheel is way better though.

thanks hoody,
but what's the logic by BMW design engineers to create an Ultimate Driving Machine with top-down, heated seats and NO heated steering wheel??