Yes, I get the 3-series comments all the time. My answer is always something like, "Why would I want the dime-a-dozen 3-series when I can have basically the same mechanics in a smaller and lighter chassis that you rarely see on the road?" I've also had people ask if I imported the car from Germany. Oh, and one guy actually asked me why I put BMW badges on an older Civic coupe. I assumed he was joking, but I quickly came to realize that he wasn't kidding
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Not knocking the 3-series - it's a great car - but they're almost as plentiful as Camries and Accords around here. I'm lucky if I see two 1-series cars a week, and that's if I see the 135i that I work with. When I got my car, I purposefully avoided the 3-series; it had absolutely nothing to do with money.