What did you drive before getting hooked on BMW?

[XK4]

I'm only showing "my" cars, not my spouse's. Early on in our life we only had one car and later we occasionally had three (no kid's cars).
My wife tended towards sensible cars (several Subaru Foresters, Ford Explorers, etc.), but every once in while she would say "You know, we could afford that". hence the XK8).

1961 – Ford Thunderbird Convertible
1967 – Ford Cortina GT
1969 – Rambler American (straight 6, 3 on the column)
1975 – Ford Mustang II (first new car)
1979 – Honda Accord
1985 – Datsun Maxima
1989 – Mazda RX-7
1991 – Mazda Miata
1995 – Mazda Miata
1998 – Jaguar XK8
1999 – Mazda Miata
2003 – Lexus SC300 Convertible
2003 – Mazda RX-8
2006 – Mazda Miata (NC retractable hardtop)
2015 – Subaru Outback (flat 6)
2016 – Subaru BRZ
2017 – Porsche 718 Cayman S
2022 – Mazda MX-5
2025 – BMW Z4 (6-speed – currently “Dispatched from Factory”)

I might still own the 718 if it were a manual. The PDK was very good, but I really missed a manual.

[Hydrostream]

1990 Acura Integra RS - first car, totaled while parked.

1991 Integra LS - replacement for my first car. Had this one for 3 years.

2002 WRX wagon - replaced my Integra with it in 2008. Still own it. 238,000 miles and counting.

2012 Mustang GT - Loved this car. Bought it new and kept it for 6 years.

2016 Focus RS - replaced my Mustang with this when we had our first baby. Great car, 7 years and 110,000 miles on it.

All manual transmissions. All were fun.

[mjr24]

1989 Pontiac Grand Am
1992 Pontiac Grand Am GT
Then E30 and E34…..
Had a 1993 Lexus SC400 after but Lexus was really hot in the early 2000’s.

[iX nOOky]

1980 Kawasaki KZ650 was my first "vehicle".
1986 Mazda 626-junk
1969 Camaro
1992 Ford Ranger
1993 Ford Ranger
1994 Acura Integra GSR
2000 Ford Escort
2004 Ford Ranger
2009 Ford Ranger
2012 Honda CR-V
2015 Ford Edge Sport
2019 Ford Edge ST
2025 BMW X5

[lordnikon]

2003 Toyota Camry
2004 Mazda 2 / Demio
2007 MK5 Golf GTI
2017 Mazda 3 GT
2019 MK7.5 Golf GTI Performance
2012 Subaru Impreza Hatch

[412g80]

1999 - Toyota Camry XLE (Sold)
2003 - Honda Accord EX (Sold)
2013 - Hyundai Elantra Limited (Sold)
2017 - Honda CRV Touring
2024 - BMW M3 Competition RWD

[Westside Guy]

Originally Posted by XK4

I'm only showing "my" cars, not my spouse's. Early on in our life we only had one car and later we occasionally had three (no kid's cars).
My wife tended towards sensible cars (several Subaru Foresters, Ford Explorers, etc.), but every once in while she would say "You know, we could afford that". hence the XK8).

1961 – Ford Thunderbird Convertible
1967 – Ford Cortina GT
1969 – Rambler American (straight 6, 3 on the column)
1975 – Ford Mustang II (first new car)
1979 – Honda Accord
1985 – Datsun Maxima
1989 – Mazda RX-7
1991 – Mazda Miata
1995 – Mazda Miata
1998 – Jaguar XK8
1999 – Mazda Miata
2003 – Lexus SC300 Convertible
2003 – Mazda RX-8
2006 – Mazda Miata (NC retractable hardtop)
2015 – Subaru Outback (flat 6)
2016 – Subaru BRZ
2017 – Porsche 718 Cayman S
2022 – Mazda MX-5
2025 – BMW Z4 (6-speed – currently “Dispatched from Factory”)

I might still own the 718 if it were a manual. The PDK was very good, but I really missed a manual.

Please make it a point to join us in the G29 forum!

[Burrcold]

1986 Honda Prelude SE
1992 Honda Prelude
1992 Nissan Maxima SE (6MT)
2000 Toyota Celica GT
2004 Honda Accord Coupe EX-L V6
2003 Toyota Celica GT-S
2004 Infiniti G35 Coupe (6MT)
2003 Toyota Celica GT
2008 Honda Civic Coupe
2008 Lexus IS250
1994 Honda Prelude VTEC
2008 Mazda3 Hatchback
2010 Hyundai Genesis Coupe 3.8 GT
2011 Volkswagen GTi
2013 Subaru BRZ
2016 Ford Edge Sport
2018 Lexus IS350
2018 Audi S5 Coupe
2019 Audi S4
2019 Audi S5 Sportback
2019 Volkswagen Tiguan
2020 BMW M340i xDrive
2019 Audi RS5 Sportback
2020 Range Rover Velar P340 S
2022 Audi RS5 Sportback
2022 Audi Q7
2024 BMW M3 Competition xDrive

[Marodon]

1990 Fiat Tipo
1993 Fiat Tipo
1997 Fiat Brava
2000 Fiat Marea
2005 Alfa Romeo 156
2010 Alfa Romeo 159
2914 Ford Mondeo
2018 Jaguar XF
2021 BMW 5 Series (G30)
2023 BMW 5 Series (G30)

Love the BMW's but the Alfa Romeo 159 has fantastic memories for me.
Probably a combination of the car and my age back then but a fantastic (and totally reliable) car which drove and looked fantastic.
Did love that Alfa!!

[Vindicator3]

1976 Buick Estate Wagon (Dad let me use it most weekends). Horrible lag when you mashed it, but when it finally took off, it really took off. I believe it had a 6.6.

1975 Buick Century - Real POS. It was 9 years old when Dad bought it for me because we moved to another school district in January of my senior year and he wasn't going to make me change High Schools for my final semester, but obviously I couldn't take the bus at that point (and he wasn't going to drive me). Built when GM's reaction to the gas crisis was to make the engine smaller but otherwise keep the car just as big and heavy, so it was horribly under-powered. It was a two-door and each door probably weighed 1500 pounds so if you parked on a cant, your girlfriend couldn't open the passenger door from the inside. Of course, being a gentleman, I would always open her door for her anyway. Lots of weird gremlins. Couldn't wait to put it out of my misery.

1983 Honda Civic - My wife bought this before we were married but I inherited it when we could finally afford to buy a new car after we were married, because not being an idiot (and because it was mostly her earnings as I was still in school), she got the new car (it was a 1989 Civic). Manual transmission, can't remember if it was 4 or 5 speed. Didn't love it. Under-powered and had a weird gremlin where it would die every once in a while when being driven in the rain. But at least it got me out of the Buick.

1992 Honda Civic - First car we bought new for me. 5 speed manual. Loved it. Almost got to 200k before trading it in, but clutch started getting wonky so I made the move early.

2005 Acura TSX Six-speed manual. Loved it. Almost got to 200k before trading it in, but at 190 is about to need a bunch of wear stuff all at the same time (brakes, tires, shocks) and I'd rather put that money into a new car than buy all that stuff and only use it for another year to get to 200k.

2025 BMW 540i - Just ordered. Should arrive right in time for the TSX's 20th birthday and 195,000th mile.

[MoeTE87]

Update to my post from 2019 in bold:

Cars:

1998 Jeep Wrangler Sahara 3inch lift, 33inch tires
2003 Ford Explorer Sport Trac XLT
2005 Mazda RX8 GT 6MT Black
2007 Infiniti G35 Coupe 6MT
2007 Honda S2000 (miss this car a lot)
2008 Mazda RX8 GT 6MT White
2008 BMW 135i Sedona Red, 6MT Msport with Berk Tech full race exhaust. Loved the sound!
2011 BMW 335i xdrive Msport, White MPPK & MPE
2016 BMW F15 X5 xdrive Msport, Silver
2018 BMW 340i MSport RWD, White, MPPSK (Loved this car) Had it sitting perfectly!
2018 BMW F15 X5 xdrive, Msport, White. Fully loaded but slow as shit with the N55. But it was a very sharp suv. Wish it was quicker though. Sold it 6 months later.
2021 BMW M340i White, RWD, MPE and lots of carbon fiber goodies. (Current ride)

Bikes:

2005 Honda CBR 1000RR White / Black Jardine Slip-on exhaust
2004 Yamaha R1
2008 Honda CBR 1000RR Silver / Black Full Two Brothers Racing exhaust and tune (wish I still had it)

[STi from DSM]

1989 Mazda 323 - My first car. This thing got 42 MPG at a time where gas was $0.85 a gallon. (1998) Super slow, but for the best being a teenager

1995 Buick Regal (My friends put GT on the back in mailbox letters) My first car I actually got a loan for. Had this in college. Good commuter car and comfortable. The 3800 Series II was a rock solid engine

1998 Mitsubishi Eclipse RS - White, my first car with exhaust. Had a cannon on the back of it. My first manual as well. I remember driving past it every day when it was for sale. Wings west front bumper and white wheels. Sharp car, but slow. 140HP.

1998 Mitsubishi Eclipse GS-T - Green, I bought this in South Dakota from a kid going to school to work on cars. This car was nothing but problems and I ended up selling it a few months down the road. Lots of goodies on the car and a super loud SSQV blow off valve made it one of my favorites.

2006 Subaru Impreza WRX STi - First car I bought when done with school. Had my first real job out of school at 3M and bought this. My dream car when I was going to school. This car is and still is my favorite car I have had. I drove to Neenah WI to get it. Loved every second of this car. I had to sell it when I proposed to my wife. Rings are too expensive! Had to downgrade to the below and really feel this was the turning point of my car addiction.

2003 Audi A4 1.8t Convertible - Had to downgrade to buy my wife her ring, this was a fun car, but it was so slow compared to the STi. Had lots of issues with this car including the Transmission Control Module which went out on this car and I had to pay $3400 to fix. Luckily Volkswagen had a class action suit about this very issue and I got my money back.

2013 Subaru WRX - My first new car. It was black, a 5 speed, and super cheap to mod. This is still my favorite style WRX/STi.

2015 Subaru STi - first and only leased vehicle, this is when I met Scott Putnam at Minnetonka Subaru. Great guy, bought two cars from him. He let me test drive his personal car as they did not have any on the lot at the time. This was the longest I ever kept any car at 40 months. A record I don't know if I will ever be able to break again.

2018 Audi RS3 - Nardo Gray, special ordered from Audi. I ended up hating this car and got rid of it 3 months later. Went back to Scott at Minnetonka Subaru to get the below car.

2018 Subaru STi Type RA #391/500 - Black, This car sat on the showfloor for like 3-4 months, when I finally bought it the 2 most expensive cars ever to pass through the dealership at that time were mine. (The RS3 and the Type RA)

2019 Audi RS3 - Mythos Black, Drove to Oklahoma to get this right around mid-peak of COVID. Hard to believe this car sat on the lot over a year! I got like 14k off on this thing. An absolute steal! I ended up getting AWE Track Exhaust for this car and it was one of the best sounding exhausts I have had on any car. I kept thinking I needed more space though. So I got the below car. Terrible decision! Never should have sold this car!

2020 BMW X3M Comp - Black, I really tried to like this car. I got it on a terrible winter morning in December. I had to drive my RS3 with summer tires in 6 inches of snow about 25 miles. Then had to take this vehicle also with summer performance tires back home in that same snow storm. I got a Remus exhaust for a decent price from a forum member and ended up sinking a ton of money into a brand new winter set for the car. I kept it 4 months and traded it in. I never really liked this car. I know it sounds weird to say. I actually liked my 1989 Mazda more than this car. I'm strange.

2019 Audi RS5 Sportback - Black, Got this car in Chicago. GREAT experience, awesome dealership, great drive home. (The morning for this was another blizzard going from Minneapolis to mid-way into Wisconsin. Summer performance tires again on the X3MC). Loved this car. Loved the utility in the Sportback design.

2018 BMW M5 Base - Singapore Gray, was going to do a YouTube review on this car, I ended up coming home with it. My second car from Motorwerks BMW. Andrew Nylin is a great dude. Still keep in contact with him. Great Salesman! Had AWE Track Exhaust on this car and all I can say is WOW! The best sounding exhaust I have ever had on any car EVER! The sound was absolutely magical. It was so loud I had to cold start the car with the garage door closed. I actually startled people when starting this up which made me smile.

2021 Audi S4 - Quantum Gray, It seems like a big step down and looking back it kinda was performance wise, but the S4 looked cool and was quick enough to satiate me for a little bit. Had AWE Track Exhaust put on that I bought from Audizine. Sounded really nice, but wasn't loud enough for me. I kept looking at RS5's though as I really wanted to be back in an RS car.

2019 Audi RS5 Sportback - Navarra Blue, drove to Iowa to get this one. At a BMW dealership nonetheless. Had a shock issue on it when I bought it but they fixed it for free. Great car with 0 issues other than I could never get the speakers to sound right in that car. Bang & Olaffson is usually pretty good and was on my other RS5 of the same year.

2022 M850i - Twilight Purple, that brings us to the bad mama jamma I am in right now. The coolest car I have owned by far and it gets the most attention by far. People will literally hang out their windows to give me a thumbs up. It makes my day everytime! A few mods from the previous owner, all tasteful like I would do it up. Looks amazing!

I have switched many times to and from BMW. The last few cars has been either BMW or Audi. The Germans know how to make good cars.

A few honorable mentions:
Scott Putnam - Now at Bloomington Subaru. Great guy and really into Subarus. One of the best Salesman I have worked with. If you're in MN check him out.
Andrew Nylin - Motorwerks BMW. Also an awesome dude and great salesman. Great to work with. If you're in MN check him out.
Darrel Jefflo - Bob Moore Audi. Great dude in the Oklahoma area.
Nicollet - Porsche Downtown Chicago, one of the nicest people I have ever met. She helped me move all of my shit from the X3M to the RS5 when she didn't have to.