Thanks to YOU, our loyal readers, AutoSpies.com is growing by leaps and bounds!
As you know, we are constantly looking at ways at improving our site with new tools like our new AgentSpaces...
Simply signup, set up your new space, design it the way you want, and your friends and family can always see what you are up to with a simple click in a browser.
http://www.autospies.com/users/agentspace.aspx
Our industry leading technologies give us a significant advantage over the competition but I've always believed the most important element is the PEOPLE here at AutoSpies.com
First and foremost, our audience and then the '00' Agents who have the best job in the world.
So it is with great pleasure I welcome and introduce you to our newest Agent to carry the '00' moniker, Agent 00J.
As a REAL customer of the cars we review and discuss (unlike the writers at other sites), I really think you are going to enjoy his energy, perspective, sense of humor and humility.
So rather than ME telling you about him, I'll let him introduce himself and tell you about his latest ride, the new BMW M3 Sedan (he just replaced his 2006 911 with the new M).
Let's give him a warm AutoSpies.com welcome!
Introducing Agent 00J:
I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself to the AutoSpies community.
I met Agent 001 last week while on vacation in Southern California and flat out asked for the job I now hold. My interests and passions are broad, but have always had an automotive twist to them. Growing up both parents stated that a car was something to get from point A to point B in, but I knew there was much, much more than that.
I remember the first time I saw a Porsche 944 – the excitement and sense of urgency that car displayed through its design is awesome. The same can be said of many cars throughout the years and decades. My interests (or bias) has been in the German arena, posters of Porsches and BMW’s adorned the walls of my bedroom growing up, and when I got my first place a poster retrieved at an auto show of a yellow BMW M3 (E36 coupe) was proudly hung over the sofa in the living room.
For me BMW is the manufacturer that really hooked me and reeled me in. There is something unique about a car as unassuming as an older 3 or 5 series that when properly equipped could at least keep pace with, if not out perform Porsche’s and Corvette’s of the era. The fact that it also blended into the background was a plus when speeds far in excess of those posted were driven, a Q ship as Car and Driver routinely referred to in the late ‘80’s early ‘90’s.
I still remember the first brand new BMW I drove, a ’silver 97 M3 (E36) sedan at Crevier BMW in Santa Ana California. It was actually an embarrassing drive for me as the sales lady wore high heels, and more importantly she could drive in high heels. When she swapped seats to let me drive, I promptly stalled the car – twice!
My first BMW was a ’99 323i (E46) that I negotiated as a company car with the company I was working for. I have since owned a ’02 330ci, ’04 330i, ’06 330i and now my newest one, a 2008 M3 sedan.
Agent 001 requested that my first post in addition to introducing myself also describe the M3 sedan from an ownership perspective, and include a LOT of pictures.
The phone call came on April 13th, 2008 from David Bartol, my local BMW purveyor (BMW of Nashville) stating that the dealership had just gotten the M3 sedan. I promptly told him that I really wasn’t in the market for a new car until next year as at the moment I had a ’06 911s as well as the previously mentioned ’06 330i. I told him I might come in to take a look, but don’t hold it for me as I wasn’t in the buying mood.
The following day brought an opportunity to take some time off, so I headed over to the dealership to have a look at the sedan. If my intent was to walk out without purchasing the M3, the car sitting on the floor in the Silverstone Metallic with Fox Red Extended Novillo Leather had other ideas.
Having already “built” the car on the BMW website, I knew the colors and options I wanted, and instead of looking at a picture on a website, I was looking at the car in person – and it was perfect.
The sales guy asked if I wanted the car, and I didn’t lie in stating, “Yes,” but first I had to make the call to my wife. For me this was an easy call though as I told her I could trade in my Porsche, and the other BMW and get a car that everyone, including my almost 2 year old son could ride in. Oh, and by the way I can lower my monthly payments by almost a grand.
Talk about a slam-dunk conversation, she said yes, and got an M3.
This car is awesome. I drive a lot, sometimes in excess of 50,000 miles a year. For that last year I was using the 911 as my daily driver mainly because it was a manual whereas the 330i was automatic. I am self-employed, and always seem to have something going on with various enterprises I am involved with. One such venture is a construction company I own, and I have several employees working for me that require me to spend time in the field working with them. I never thought twice about driving the 911 to a job site. Weather never dictated which car to drive either, in fact when we awoke to a dusting of snow in February; I took the 911 to the mall parking lot to do a lot of sliding and drifting there.
I say all of this to make a point, cars are made to be driven and enjoyed. A car parked in a climate-controlled garage never to see the light of day is a car in my opinion that is being wasted. My M3 is no exception to this rule.
I live about 25 minutes south east of Nashville in a little town called Nolensville. I have access to some incredible driving roads throughout my travels daily that cry out for a car as competent as the M3.
Running this car through the gears, listening to it sing at 8400 RPM is truly music to a car lovers ears. The range and flexibility of this engine is absolutely incredible. Consider the fact that the current generation 3 series is by far the best ever made by BMW, and then enhance that with a motor fit for a racecar, and you end up with a combination that is pure driving nirvana.
There is a road that I drive almost daily that I like to time myself on. It is about 3.5 miles long, and has a lot of 2nd gear turns that require you hard on the brakes going in. The speed limit on the road is 35, but I have seen in excess of 90 on one of the long straight-aways. My best time with the 911 was 3 minute 9 seconds. I bested that with the M3 the first time out at 2 minutes 58 seconds. The balance of the chassis (and the fact you didn’t have all that weight hung out back with the engine) and the precision with which you can drive the M3 is phenomenal.
Agent 001 in meeting last week commented on comparing the 135i to much greater cars including Porsche’s, and I would say the same about the M3. All the magazines have run the cliché Lexus IS-f vs. Mercedes C63 vs. BMW M3, and while the M3 comes out on top, what about some of the sports cars out there including the 911 and Corvette.
Here is a car that runs all day long without complaint at or near its 8400 RPM redline, yet is comfortable and practical enough to take 3 friends along for the ride, or in my case my son, who giggles every time I run the car to its redline in first and second.
I know I have gotten a little long in the writing here, but that is what passion does to a person, and I am passionate about cars. I happen to be passionate about German cars, but I know that AutoSpies is a community that brings together not only the most relevant and important auto information out there, but also a group of people just like me who are passionate about the cars we drive, or wish we drove.
As I told Agent 001 in meeting him last Friday, this is one of those dream jobs we all fantasize about, a labor of love that has nothing to do with the number of zeros on the paycheck. I look forward to serving AutoSpies readers to the best of my ability. I look forward to getting to know a lot of the regulars via the discussions that take place daily.
Let’s have some fun together discussing the thing we are all passionate about.
If you want to email him, think like a spy and you will figure out his email address....and his AgentSpace address is Agent00J.myautospies.com