Jo’s Diary: Retiring my M3

It was about three years ago that I first joined The Intercooler dream team and devoted my first story to explaining why you should absolutely buy a BMW E46 M3 as a daily driver. Looking back, it’s possible I did so more to convince myself that I’d not completely lost the plot than to offer sound consumer advice. Sorry.

Being honest, it had all the hallmarks of a terrible idea – and I’m not certain I convinced any of our readers either. Yet, as it turned out the M3 was nothing short of extraordinary and, apart from a flat tyre and a broken wheel spoke, it consistently ferried me to and from work every day without so much as a skipped beat.

In fact, if there is anything this little practical experiment has taught me it’s that the formula for happiness is quite simple, if not slightly childish. All you need to shake you awake in the morning are the on-demand dulcet tones of an S54 engine under your right foot. However, after nearly three years of waltzing through the turnstiles at work with an M3-induced grin on my face, I’ve decided it is time for my trusty steed to hang up its boots.