Why I bought an M3

Truly it was a car I tried hard not to buy. It was just too obvious. I needed a daily driver but this? An E46 BMW M3? So predictable, so very unsurprising.

Of course it was: M’s take on BMW’s fine E46 3 Series was never likely to be dull, but what it actually produced became one of the most focussed yet usable sports coupés ever made. And of course that meant plenty got made. Indeed for a certain sort of petrolhead, owning one has turned into a bit of a rite of passage. So in my stubbornness I became the person who, knowing exactly what she really wants, opened up her options and spent months looking for almost anything else.

My list of requirements was neither extensive nor needlessly overcomplicated, but it was particular. I knew I wanted something that felt special, a proper driver’s car, but I also knew it had to be something that could carry me many miles down the motorway to the office in something approaching comfort.