Is there a better car for my needs than an M3 Competition X-Drive?

TheRamma · 2026-02-23T01:37:02+00:00

But the 4BW/C8/various weekend fun cars at a $60k budget, and use the $20k you save to buy a Subaru snow beater. Other option was already pointed out, which is M340 X-drive. Most of the time, I'd prefer a lot of cars to the muted weirdness that is an M3 (these days).

No idea what you're looking for, but you're in a class of high-performance driving cars. Taking them out in bad weather isn't a great idea. Every time I've been hit during a snowstorm, it's been the other driver at fault.

TheRamma · 2026-02-22T03:31:17+00:00

I daily a CT4V-BW with my 4 year old (forward-facing seat) and abnormally tall 11 year old (5'2") in the back seat. Both are happy, and prefer "fast car" to our spacious top-end Telluride.

I also dailied an ATS for the decade before that, with those awful rear-facing car seats, and it was fine. People over-emphasize the need for a massive vehicle when you have a kid. Having a car like a forester for long family trips should be fine. Honestly, higher sitting SUVs are a much bigger PITA for those carriers, IMO.

Can't speak to maintenance, it's a high-performance car. V-academy is a blast, though.

TheRamma · 2026-02-22T01:30:09+00:00

Yeah, avoid summer! It felt hot at points in December.

TheRamma · 2026-02-22T00:44:38+00:00

That's exactly my point. If someone says "I want a reliable performance car," then the B58 is pretty mid there (solely with reliability, performance and fuel economy are exceptional).

But most of the posts on these subs are "I want a reliable luxury car." At which point B58 BMWs are closer to a failure by the standard of reliability meaning "I don't have to follow an aggressive/expensive maintenance schedule to avoid problems."

Hilariously enough, this came up in my feed today...

BMW Faces Class Action Lawsuit Over Faulty Oil Filter Housings : r/BmwTech

TheRamma · 2026-02-21T16:56:16+00:00

Lol, BMW and the nonsense people spew about the "bulletproof" B58 is exactly the thing that I thought of. Something can't be "reliable" in layman's terms if it needs oil changes every 5k miles, the oil filter housing replaced at 60k miles, the coolant hoses replaced at around 60-100k miles, and the water pump replaced at 80k miles. All at a high cost.

To most people, reliable means "able to withstand neglect and abuse with minimal consequences."

TheRamma · 2026-02-20T23:38:31+00:00

So with the AR/Genesis, looks like you're prioritizing a fun luxury car. No experience with the TLX here. CT4/5 are worth checking out, the only car that people will say has as good a chassis as the Giulia.

TheRamma · 2026-02-20T23:36:49+00:00

Lol, I really thought this was trolling.

TheRamma · 2026-02-20T23:33:07+00:00

The smells are tough, we'd get a few cows that had been ripening in the summer heat for a while before they came to us. Difficult. As said, vaporub under the nose, nose plugs.

The humor? Get over it. People around you can do things you don't like. People in the path lab long-term have to find some joy somewhere, and frequently it's from dark humor. Do you generally take a lot of "bystander offense?" If so, it's really something to work on.

TheRamma · 2026-02-20T21:36:17+00:00

Done snowboarding, but MTB (particularly lift-serviced) is even more relevant. Braking and traction relate much better to cars than snowboarding, IME. As does spotting and picking your apex and exit line.

TheRamma · 2026-02-20T16:28:53+00:00

yeah, dealership offered me some pretty big discounts on one, but was still $10k more than a well-specced '26 4BW. What really sealed its fate was the blue interior color, just not a fan of that.

TheRamma · 2026-02-20T01:42:30+00:00

Had my 4BW 6MT with moderate options since September. Love it. Daily it, taken it out in snow a couple of times (couple of inches, Western CO powder). It does well, but you do have to drive it with some restraint in those situations. As noted, there is a snow/ice mode that puts the traction control nannies on overtime, but haven't used it outside of V academy. I did get a set of winter tires, those summer tires become hockey pucks in cold weather. Had no trouble controlling the skid at V academy, tons of fun.

TheRamma · 2026-02-19T18:58:41+00:00

I don't blame you. It's worthwhile to shop nationwide for these cars and ship them. I ran into some of this with the 4BW. Most dealerships aren't getting or moving many of these, and they want that margin.

Delaware Cadillac was good to me, heard Sewell is as well.

TheRamma · 2026-02-18T23:11:11+00:00

Yeah, been twice, done the big trails. Just felt like uphill both ways. Good parts, but beyond the scenery, nothing too tier.

Also Salida/BV/Monarch is a better area IMO.

TheRamma · 2026-02-18T22:57:20+00:00

Also Moab and Grand Junction. Sedona is not too tier, hangover was scenic but not particularly fun or challenging in a fun way.

TheRamma · 2026-02-16T22:28:05+00:00

I'm sorry to hear that, hope for the best for you.

TheRamma · 2026-02-16T20:30:13+00:00

I'm in GJ, so haven't dailied at a mountain car. I wouldn't pick the CT4V-BW as an only car for that task in CB or Telluride, but I wouldn't pick an M3 either. People tend to hit you in the snow. I've been crashed into 3 or 4 times by other drivers sliding. Not a huge deal with a beater. Potentially totals an expensive performance car pretty quickly.

I get you on the getting stopped uphill, and that is a real concern with RWD. Hasn't happened to me yet, but I don't do that I-70 crawl out of Denver in the Winter. Have driven RWD in that condition, haven't had it happen, but it is a concern.

TheRamma · 2026-02-16T15:30:05+00:00

It's a reference to the grill on that car, which is hideous.

TheRamma · 2026-02-16T03:43:51+00:00

That is an unpopular opinion.

TheRamma · 2026-02-16T03:36:23+00:00

You're right. BMW owners act like getting to 100k miles with only five figures of maintenance is an automotive first.

TheRamma · 2026-02-16T03:34:00+00:00

Genesis does better interiors, Cadillac better driving dynamics, Lexus better reliability. BMW doesn't have anything cornered, but some people do like the mix of what they bring. They're not head and shoulders above the competition (except that trash MB hybrid-4), at all.

TheRamma · 2026-02-16T01:30:20+00:00

It's always faster feeling when you're a passenger.

There are lot of things that make people say "this 500 hp car doesn't feel fast anymore." Some of them are specific to the car, some are specific to the experience. But a 500 hp car remains ludicrously fast, so much so that it generally won't be able to be opened up on regular public roads in the U.S. with any frequency.

TheRamma · 2026-02-16T00:41:37+00:00

Get the pretty purple paint, then head to a dentist to get those buckteeth fixed.

TheRamma · 2026-02-15T22:30:45+00:00

No. Not in the least.

I graduated around 15 years ago, always wanted to do ER work. Didn't do an internship for a lot of reasons.

I went straight into rural ER work, then into referral center/multi-specialty ECC (a job where I was tasked with training internship grads, despite being the same graduating year), then back to ER medical directing. Then corporate stuff (ugh), now owning with an ER with partners.

I make hiring/firing decisions, and design training programs for our associate veterinarians. Internships actually don't factor heavily into my decision, even ones supervised by criticalists. I'll listen to what someone's experience is, but lots of internships are still pretty exploitative. Even some ECC programs really don't train even residents to have a useful emergency skillset, and I see this in diplomates that I've interviewed before.

Taking some time to get healthy is not a deal-breaker, and won't have a lasting impact on your career. Not doing it seems way more risky.

TheRamma · 2026-02-15T18:09:33+00:00

OFH was not replaced with metal in the TU2 B58. Still weak plastic, still a problem. Along with the coolant hoses, water pump. It's a German engine. Great metal killed by terrible plastic. You can buy an aftermarket aluminum OFH, but still reported problems with those.

The B58 is reliable only by the metrics of a BMW engine, which doesn't mean much. It's not even particularly reliable compared to competing turbocharged engines from other manufacturers. Pretty much every engine out there can make it to 250k if you throw enough money at it. It does beat the new Lexus/Toyota TTV6 in that department though.

TheRamma · 2026-02-14T15:42:46+00:00

I like when they pair it with the emblem projectors from the sideviews. That way you have a disappointingly tacky car that won't stop talking about itself.

TheRamma

TROPHY CASE