We all have favorites. Whether it’s a person, place, or thing, it doesn’t have to be rational. It doesn’t need to be something you justify to someone else. It just has to be something you like for your own reasons, and that’s it. If you’re reading this site, it’s likely you’ve decided BMW is your favorite car brand, that it resonated with you in some major way and that’s why you keep coming back. And if you joined this club, you definitely have reasons.
Our theme for the next issue of BimmerLife Magazine is heroes, so we’ll be celebrating BMW cars, events, and people that deserve that moniker for one reason or another. Some of them are people we know personally or cars we’re lucky enough to own. Others are people long gone or heavily involved with BMW that we don’t get the chance to meet or cars that space, time, or wallet size won’t let us pursue.
My hero is the E46 M3 GTR, the V-8 powered monster that dominated U.S. racing so thoroughly in 2001 that it was immediately banned. I was lucky enough to get a chance to drive that car in 2018, and it lived up to every expectation I had, and then some. It shot flames, it sounded amazing, and it was a sweetheart. I think about that day often, it’s my Roman Empire.
As part of this upcoming issue, I want to feature similar stories from you about your BMW heroes. It can be someone well-known, like Bill Auberlen, or a relative unknown, like your local mechanic. It can be a car you own or one you wish you could. It could be a time you met your hero and they or it lived up to every expectation. Or it could be a hero you’re too scared to meet because that might ruin your blind worship.
No matter what it is, I want to hear about it. Send me an email with your member number, a short blurb on your hero and, if you can, a photo we have the rights to run (that’s complicated and I’m happy to explain in more depth). Anything submitted will be considered for publication in that issue. I’m looking forward to hearing your stories.
