derBayerische May/June 2022 - 18

A U N I C O R N
Fast forward to the year 2000.
I had bought an E36 3 Series compact
with the proceeds from my first
real job. And I was proud of that
car! I had joined the BMW CCA and
started attending club events and
meeting other club members who
were equally enthusiastic for the
marque. BMW had announced the
brand new E46 3 Series touring
would be sold in the US alongside
the E39 touring and they released
striking photos of a titanium silver
metallic wagon parked under the
turbofan of an Airbus A330.
Suddenly, this wagon was so cool
to me that I even printed those
photos on glossy paper to hang in
my cubicle.
That summer, I had the opportunity
through National Capital
Chapter BMW CCA to help shuttle
cars between dealerships for the
joint BMW and Komen Foundation
Ultimate Drive for a Cure events.
I picked the " signature car, " a 325iT
with a checkered flag paint job, that
event participants and local Komen
Foundation cancer survivors signed
at every participating dealership, for
a long shuttle run from Maryland
down to Richmond. On that scenic
drive, I decided I was a " touring
guy " . The distinctive shape, the
ease of loading cargo with the
hatch, the relative rarity, and the
effortless ability to haul my friends
and my toys around induced me
to come full circle. BMW had
changed my mind.
However, when I got married
in the summer of 2001, it took me a
while to change my new bride's
mind about tourings. In fact, I
distinctly remember the one and
only time my wife Monica and my
sister bonded was when the two of
them couldn't stop laughing at me
for trying to convince them that
wagons were now cool. By 2003
she had come around, too. Her old
car was becoming more trouble
than it was worth, she too had
become a fan of the marque, and the
E46 LCI with a sportier front
bumper and better wheels sealed
the deal. In Roundel, we read about
European Delivery and wanted to
■ (Above) Monica and the new car at the Atomium in Brussels, Belgium. Photo by Barry Bocaner. (Below) Barry and the new car stand in front of the
Cologne Cathedral and the Deutz Bridge in Cologne, Germany. Photo by Monica Bocaner.
share that experience. So, we headed
off to what was then the new
dealership in Sterling, VA and found
a salesperson who would help us
arrange the purchase.
When we started spec'ing out
the car, we easily agreed on most
everything. The car would be steelblue
metallic, have the sport package,
heated seats, navigation system,
OBC, rear PDC, and aluminum trim.
We would skip the premium package
and cold weather package, getting
the most important options
from those packages a-la-carte. In a
concession to both to my wife's
vegetarian ethos and the rapidly
growing bottom line, I traded away
leather seats in exchange for
Harman/Kardon sound; we ended
up with black sensatec for the seats.
The one place we couldn't agree was
on the transmission. Although she
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derBayerische May/June 2022

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