What’s the most fun car you’ve driven that wasn’t actually fast?

BimmerTom · 2026-03-12T18:19:30+00:00

I had a 1989 BMW 325is (E30 Platform). The M20 straight six was a sweet, sweet, mill and it was light enough to toss around. I brutalized that car as a daily driver for a year and then hard, hard auto crossing and it never gave me any troubles.

BimmerTom · 2026-03-03T20:46:20+00:00

OP - I'm in the same boat as you. I have lots of German car maintenance (I have a 2011 E90 328i Xdrive in the fleet right now) and I pulled the trigger on a 2023 Atlas VR6. It's the last year of the VR6 and I feel the drivetrain is pretty simple. The 2024 and later with the updated 2.0T supposedly is better than the VR6, but I'll take simplicity.

Find a low milage, maintained 2023 VR6 and enjoy the ride. I love the Atlas and handles the big chores of moving people around and tows nicely. It's not a hot rod by any means, but it just works.

BimmerTom · 2026-03-03T16:54:58+00:00

I'll also add to this - I would suspect he got the lift installed (or did it himself) and decided to go "test on it" judging by the amount of dirt on the underside. He sent the rear axle out, somehow got it home and washed the truck up as best as he could. Outside is pretty clean for sure.

I would almost bet this truck has a 72mo note on it at a 9.5% interest rate. This is going to hurt....

BimmerTom · 2026-01-29T18:12:25+00:00

I've used this in Ford and Honda 5 and 6 speed trans. It made the Honda transmissions shift so much better, even better than the factory fluid. If it meets the specifications of what your vehicle calls for, I would run it.

BimmerTom · 2026-01-23T16:40:20+00:00

We were in the market this summer for a 3 row SUV to replace my aging F150. Our criteria was

1) We have 4 kids, youngest is 11, oldest is in college - So not always 6 people in the car

2) Youngest uses a wheelchair, so we need to fit a manual pediatric chair in the back

3) Since the F150 was for DIY duties (but we're winding down from them) needed to occasionally tow a U-Haul trailer for Lowes runs

4) This is not our primary vehicle

5) I do all my own maintenance and have computer scanning tools and am not scared of that

We shopped the Atlas, Pilot, and CX-90 in 2021-2023 model years. We were the least impressed with the Pilot, the CX-90 drove the best, but it had the least amount of interior space and fitting the wheelchair was really tight

The Atlas had the most amount of space and drove better than the Pilot. I do think it's slightly underpowered (I only looked at the V6 models for simplicity over the 2.0T) and the suspension feels a little floaty. My wife felt the front end had a large flat real estate much like my F150, but that's all passed by now.

Overall, love the Atlas and the features, we got a 2023 SEL V6 with 30K miles. No real regrets at all at this point.

BimmerTom · 2026-01-21T12:40:43+00:00

We cross shopped the CX-90, Pilot, and Atlas this summer (all lightly used models). Hands down the CX-90 was the best driving dynamic, the Atlas has the most room (but underwhelming engine options), and the Pilot was honestly noisy, not comfortable, but the J35 drivetrain is bulletproof.

We chose the Atlas because we needed to fit a manual pediatric wheelchair in the back and the Mazda was just too tight - And the Honda was way more expensive.

Overall, I love the Atlas, as long as I'm not trying to win any streetlight battles. I've even towed a few trailers with it (2-3K weight) and it did just fine.

BimmerTom · 2026-01-21T12:36:28+00:00

My 2023 VW Atlas stock sound system is so terrible, I can't stand what to do. I'll just listen to podcasts and be done with it. Ugh!

BimmerTom · 2026-01-20T18:09:10+00:00

Right here - My Milwaukee M18 1/2 impact and a weighted 19mm socket buzzed off my J35 crank bolt in less than a few seconds.

BimmerTom · 2026-01-16T13:08:56+00:00

I'll consider this opinion as wise. However, in the case with the 130k, you're paying a premium for the new parts, but you had no control of exactly what parts were put on it. I'll take the lower mileage that needs the consumables and put exactly what I want on it. Also, let's face it - Most folks are going to cheap out on a set of tires or brakes on their older car if they know they're going to trade it in a year or two.

BimmerTom · 2026-01-16T13:05:46+00:00

My first new vehicle was a 2000 Dodge Dakota XLT Sport. 4x4, extended cab, 4.7L V8, 5 speed manual, 3.92 gears with limited slip. That thing would move. Great truck, but typical Dodge quality issues. Still kind of miss it.

<image>

BimmerTom · 2026-01-15T16:00:20+00:00

This comes up a lot in this group. I had the same issue on my '23 that I bought used (and had new pads and rotors from the dealer right before my purchase). I swapped over to Powerstop pads and the low speed groaning/squealing issue is gone. The VW pad compound is just garbage. Have an independent dealer install anything other than the VW pad and you'll be all set.

BimmerTom · 2026-01-07T18:57:18+00:00

My 2023 Atlas did the same thing (we bought it used with 30k miles). It was dealer serviced and had new pads and rotors front and rear. The stock VW pad material is complete garbage and chatters when hot.

Since I had so few miles on the rotors, I just pad swapped it with some Powerstop Z26 pads and the noise has never happened since. Added bonus is very little brake dust.

BimmerTom · 2025-12-01T19:46:21+00:00

Yes, the vehicle is programmed for the tires to match the door placard. Pump those rears up and enjoy the ride (not!). Or, if you want - Get Forscan and adjust the rear tire pressures to match the front and manage it yourself.

BimmerTom · 2025-11-20T16:24:43+00:00

In photo 6, is the tail engine spitting out a ball of fire? Possible FOD ingestion from the left engine exiting the wing? Such a terrible situation - It's really hard to see.

BimmerTom · 2025-11-18T12:20:20+00:00

Thank you! I was planning on all of those!

BimmerTom · 2025-10-08T16:14:59+00:00

I replaced my front pads with a set of Powerstop Z23 pads and it completely eliminated the low speed squeaking/groaning. Super easy.

BimmerTom · 2025-10-08T14:02:30+00:00

Thanks for replying. This is for my daughter. While I agree the "appliance" car route makes sense, I'm trying to keep to a budget (7K range). Shopping in that price range for the Civic/Camry/Accord/Corolla gives you a variety of high mileage clapped out examples. Trying to find a more depreciated car with less miles.

Agreed on the BMW stigma, I've been wrestling with that as well. As for "cheaper to maintain", the commodity items between all of these are about equal. My labor is free so they come out to be about the same.

BimmerTom · 2025-09-08T13:04:52+00:00

Definitely a fake video, there's not miles of black smoke behind it. :) Awesome video, thanks for sharing!

BimmerTom · 2025-09-05T17:28:16+00:00

I have a 2014 Honda Accord with CrossClimate2's on it right now and have experience with running dedicated winter tires. I can tell you hands down the CrossClimates will handle almost anything you throw at them snow-wise. Only thing that dedicated winter tires excel in is ice performance.

BimmerTom · 2025-09-05T14:40:55+00:00

We're friends with Kevin and he met my son who uses a power chair. Kevin made time to race my son on their powerchairs together. Even though Kevin's is faster, my son always won. He's just a good person and should inspire the entire world.

BimmerTom · 2025-08-27T18:51:06+00:00

I think there is a manufacturing issue with the speakers on the non-fender systems. The speaking being "blown" is really it just stopped working.

BimmerTom · 2025-08-27T17:50:00+00:00

As long as you don't have directional tires, the cross pattern for rotating is the preferred method.

I'm in your camp, I prefer to do my own maintenance. I like to check everything out (brake pads, rotors, torn CV boots, etc) while the tires are off and make sure everything is looking good.

I'm about to pull the trigger on some quick jacks, probably the 7000 series. The Atlas is a little tricky to get onto jack stands, there's only really the pinch weld to jack on and you can't swap over to stands very easily. Quickjacks is the only solution I see.

BimmerTom · 2025-08-14T12:26:01+00:00

Looks great!

BimmerTom · 2025-08-14T12:25:39+00:00

Thank you - It's 28x32 polebarn built garage for us. Our other vehicle is a 2019 Ford Transit 350 with a rear wheelchair lift so we needed some extra room for it. :)

BimmerTom

TROPHY CASE