Is that your M3 MArk - it's lovely.

I do love the classic BMWs, they are achingly cool.

This is one of my favourites, if a little (lot) out of my league...

http://www.4starclassics.com/BMW-CSL-For-Sale-2/

Stewart

: Rolex makes some great watches, I would never argue that. The thing
: that gets my goat is the way they have got themselves perceived
: as the luxury watch non plus ultra by the man in the street, and
: the marketing continues to play off that. Whilst all the time
: being as ubiquitous as they are, despite making something in the
: order of 10 times as many watches as most of their competitors.
: And playing the market by artificially restricting the supply of
: certain models to keep demand stoked.

: I'm sure someone like our own David DeVos knows that and buys
: anyway because he likes the watches enough to ignore the
: marketing flim-flam, but I feel for the average uninformed
: purchaser and especially those who aspire to the Rolex
: "dream", it feels like a bit of a confidence job. And
: the marketing never does anything to dispel that.

: Not that Heuer weren't above marketing too, of course; getting the
: name on the F1 cars, calling what was essentially a continuation
: of the long-standing triple calendar line a Carrera for a few
: more sales and so on, but there was a more innocent naivety
: about it that's more appealing to me than the Rolex marketing
: juggernaut.

: Perhaps ironically, I drive BMWs and their marketing in the UK has
: often been just as guilty in their field as Rolex. Luckily, I
: have also seen German marketing at the same time - the
: "Freude am Fahren" (Pleasure in driving) tagline was
: always less hyperbolic than the UK's "Ultimate Driving
: Machine", and the marketing in general less strident.
: Nonetheless, 3 series have become pretty ubiquitous in
: themselves for the last couple of generations and the reputation
: of the drivers certainly isn't the best (though when I commuted
: to Heathrow every week, I found Golf drivers to be the least
: considerate on the road, so there you go!) and yet they still
: appeal to me, mechanically and aesthetically. Though it wasn't
: the marketing that turned me on to them, it was more being in
: the right place at the right time and seeing fleets of E30 M3s
: being delivered to various dealers around Munich. Yummy. That
: and the association with perhaps still my favourite city in the
: world and the deal was clinched. At times I have liked them
: despite the marketing.

:

: And yet not the same with Rolex. I've never had that initial spark
: with them, so the marketing gets in the way and alternatives are
: perhaps more readily available than they are for small
: rear-drive sporting cars with straight-six engines :) So I'll
: forgive BMW what I don't forgive Rolex. Completely rational?
: Perhaps not, but it's the way it is. Oh, and watch fairs would
: be a whole lot easier to navigate without having to wade through
: floods of 3-hand Rolexes!!!