[Samifumi]

...especially if you still have yet to test drive the M3. The Ultimate Drive rolled into my town on this past Friday (April 11th) and much to my surprise the M3 was there. I was surprised because it is not listed as one of the cars you can register and reserve like the Alpina B7. You have to be 30 years or older to test drive (I made it in at 31).

I managed to drive just about everything there that was interesting (Alpina B7, 760i, 650i, 335i, 135i, M3). The cars that I was in the actual market to purchase I drove multiple times. I had driven the M3 when it first hit US shores last month, but this was the first time I drove one that was broken in. The real kicker for me was later in the day, when they asked for volunteers to drive the cars to Austin on Saturday (250 miles from where I'm at). Needless to say, I jumped at the opportunity.

At first, you start off in a convoy of 20-25 Ultimate Drive BMWs, which was very annoying. By the time we got to Houston, the traffic pretty much killed any chance we'd travel in a convoy, and that was when we were on our own (my younger brother was in the 335i). Somehow, even though we stopped 4 times along the way, we managed to get there before anyone else (we were flying). So by the time we got to Austin, we knew we were at least 30 minutes ahead of the pack, we missed the exit to the dealership and took a detour down 2222 in Austin, which is probably the best route in the entire city (through the hill country roads).

I could bore all of you with a review, but most of you here know the car or want the car. I know after the long term drive this is my next car (I'm just not sure what options, including transmission and colors). The point of the post though is to encourage you to make it to the Ultimate Drive, and don't be too shy to ask if they need some help driving the cars to the next city. You're doing them a favor, and the miles you drive go towards the money raised for the Breast Cancer research. Seriously, it's the most fun I've had all year.