[wdc330i]

Originally Posted by Josh (PA)

Revisiting this thread from spring time.
The wagon got totalled in early summer... so that answered the question as to whether we were going to keep it.

My 1er turned 10yrs old and 117k miles and finally needs some maintenance. I replaced the valve cover. I think it needs a rear main seal and oil pan gasket to remedy other oil leaks. It has an SES light on that I think is the exhaust O2 sensor, but may be the cat convertor and the suspension is getting tired. My wife and I discussed whether to bite the bullet, refresh it and keep it for the foreseeable future or trade it in on a nicer winter car. After a few drives, we decide it is the perfect daily driver for me, the dog fits in the backseat great with the top down and its just a generally wonderful car so we're keeping it.

That led to a direction on our next winter beater/util car. Something relatively cheap, we are familar with and can fit the role of jack of all trades - nice enough to drive 300 miles, but not nice enough that we care if it gets a ding or a wet dirty dog in the back. I've been searching for about a month and found a good deal on an e83. We're picking this up on Sunday in VA:

2009 x3 w/ 69k miles. Space Gray over Oyster. Solid history, lightly optioned, well maintained, new water pump & thermostat, etc. It has the the N52k/n version of the engine so no ticking and most people claim it is incredibly robust. I'll throw a hitch and a few other accesories on it and I think we'll be in business. I'm pretty happy with the whole thing.

Congrats!