Blog

Short blog posts, journal entries, and random thoughts. Topics include a mix of personal and the world at large. 

Gratis finis

Well that is it. Today is the final time that maintenance on my BMW M2 will be paid for by BMW. Every new BMW vehicle comes with three years’ worth of free maintenance. That is the perk you receive in paying so handsomely for Bavarian engineering. It’s wild to realize it’s been three years since I bought the M2 back in October of 2020 - during the heart of the pandemic. Taking it for its third annual service also signals the longest period I’ve kept a car bought with my own money.

And honestly I do intend to keep this M2 Competition for as long as possible. I know I said the same thing about the Porsche 911 GT3 (letting that car go still hurts), but hey, the intention is there, okay? Sometimes life throw you unexpected curveballs - especially the financial ones - and you just have to adjust. There’s plenty of residual value tied to M2; if I ever need to sell it in order to facilitate some big life decisions, I totally would in a heartbeat.

What I won’t do is sell the BMW in order to buy another car. The days of swapping out vehicles every few years is over. The M2 is just about the perfect car for me: powerful and sporting enough to easily get into trouble, yet practical enough to do a major Costco run. To move on from that for the newest flavor in automotive town would be silly. Besides, with interest rates at historic highs (for my lifetime), I want to avoid taking out a loan, or withdrawing money from the savings account.

Cheers to many more years with the M2. Time to start saving up for not-free maintenance service that begins a year from now.

This is just hideous.

Thanks but no thanks

A few days ago, I received an email from BMW of San Francisco - the dealership where I purchased my BMW M2 Competition from. The email states they’ve got an exciting offer for me! How would I like to trade in that BMW M2 Competition for, wait for it, a brand-new BMW M240i X-Drive! Why yes, I would totally love to trade in a genuine BMW M-division product for a plain, off the general assembly line car (this is sarcasm, for you non car guys).

At least have the decency to offer me the new BMW M2! My brother recently saw one of those on the street, so I know production has begun. Unlike my M2, this new one doesn’t have to make the ocean journey from Germany. The new M2 is manufactured down south in Mexico. Quite a bit easier for units to reach American dealerships. I’m actually intrigued to see one in person. BMW of SF should have offered!

Honestly though, I have no intention of switching out of the M2 for another new BMW. The current M product lineup have polarizing styling and interiors dominated by screens. (As is the current trend in automotive interiors. Thanks, Tesla!) Sure the new cars are faster, but that’s not something worth chasing. The 405 horsepower of my 2021 M2 is just fine. You really don’t need more than that for public roads.

What I cannot tolerate is the automotive industry moving towards LCD displays to replace everything inside the car. Like a crazed gun-nut, I’m clinging on to physical buttons and needle instrument dials - both of which my M2 has - until you pry it out of my dead hands. I don’t want to go through multiple menus just to adjust a seat angle!

Always good to see one of these completely stock, unmolested.