Kier Smith's 1987 325i

Contact: Kier Smith
klsmith-42@msn.com

My history with BMWs doesn't start with my current car, but my LOVE for BMWs does. I previously had a 1983 320i and I wish I had kept the VW Golf GTI I had before that and I really wish I'd kept my Rabbit before that. The 320i was ok, but it had its problems and for quite a while I was too broke to really do anything with it. It finally got to the point recently where I was going to try to fix it up a bit and see if I could make it fun to drive again. Then one day a I was driving past a small car lot in Kent and spotted a BMW sitting there just out of the corner of my eye. The lot was closed, but I went and took a look anyway. It looked great so I came back a couple days later when they were open and took it for a drive and loved it. The next day I traded in my old tired 320i for my "new" 1987 325i.

I bought the car just 4 days before I found out that I would be doing some work for a company that would have me driving between 500-1000 miles a week... and I couldn't be more thrilled! The only thing I've done to the car so far is change the oil and spark plugs. It looked like the plugs had been in there for the entire 160k miles and I was amazed that it ran as well as it did. I plan on more of a tune up this weekend and soon I am going to replace the shocks/springs. Down the line I will be getting stress/sway bars and new wheels/tires as well as tinting the windows and getting a new air dam for the front and a set of sport seats. There's a bunch of little things I'd like to do, but they are down the road a bit.

The first time I had to do any serious driving in my new car was on the Club road trip on 13 Oct 2002. I'd have to say that I really bonded with my car on soon after we left the freeway. I was humming along at about 60 and had to pass a car, shifted into 3rd for some get up and go and made my move...quick shift to 4th and I hit 100 as I was making the pass. If that wasn't a bonding moment, I don't know what is. I was in heaven for the rest of the road trip, except when I got stuck behind this Saturn who believed in the speed limit and there was nowhere to pass for several miles.