I don't know if I'd call the E30, E36, or E46 the best of the 3ers, but I do think it was one of those...which one depends on who makes the call and what their preferences are.

But, the last E46 was the end of its golden era, for sure.

In the 'how long have you had it' mode...

My parents bought the Mustang (for me) in 1979.
My parents bought the E38 (new) in 2001. I brought it up north to me after they passed away in 2007.
I bought my PSD in 2006.
We bought the Yukon new in 2000. Donated it away in 2018 after 270,000 very trouble free miles.
I bought my 2002 in 1983. Stupidly sold it in 2011 (28 years ownership).

Yeah - I tend to keep my cars a while. :P

That's the beauty of the many rides I have. Going from Point A to Point B can never get boring.

Glad to hear many have long-term cars. I thought for sure that I was the only one.

Yeah, it's nice having a vehicle that is the "go-to" or mainstay of the fleet. You can always count on it for getting the job done.

My BMW will forever be that car, because I keep deriving driving pleasure from it, still to this day.

If there was only one regret that I have, is that I didn't have enough in the budget to spring for a 330i back in 2002.

I'd probably still have it if I did, judging from the many former owners who really liked it.

Those touring models are pretty cool, because you don't see many of them.

I've thought it would be cool to drop an S54 in one and make it a sleeper.

It makes a great fourth car too, lol.

Well, I'm glad I got in on it.

This car is my first BMW, and most likely, my last.

That's awesome.

Still surprises me that your Yukon gave you such great and lengthy service. Thought for sure GM products aren't known for their reliability.

You must've gotten lucky with that rig.

I don't think the performance difference was that much back then ... weren't they were both very smooth 6 cylinders with not that much difference in performance ? I would think either model was great.

I had the 2001 330ci and then the 2003 330i ... I loved them both though 2001 had that weird steering issue where they replaced the racks ... I remember BMWNA wanting to use my 330ci as a guinea pig, they asked me to bring it to their location in NJ after it got the rack changed and wanted my opinion ...

I wasn't into the whole thing but that time was fun ... isn't that how a part of this board came together since we were on roadfly then went to bimmerfest then here.

The E46 is a legend and had an impact on most of us here !!!