15 Years [update]

Tomorrow I’m heading to my 15 year college reunion. It’s a 600-mile round trip so we’re most likely taking the Mini - it’s just me and my wife with one bag each. But I’m really tempted to take the E46.

update - I’ll save you the scrolling, we took the E46 and it was fantastic all the way. 27mpg over 300 miles of a mix of highway and back roads, and that’s with my (and my wife’s) lead foot. Comfy, smooth, solid. It was the right choice. Also, I partied like a college student and now I’m exhausted.  

It may have 178,000 miles but it’s in great shape overall, especially mechanically. And part of me really wants to come to reunion with a car that some of my classmates had while they were students (not me). I remember driving classmates’ E46 330xi’s and B5 S4's. I’m sure none of them kept them past their first promotion.

I’m sure there will be lots of fancy cars around, especially from some of the earlier classes. What better place to take your fancy car than where all your old classmates will see it as evidence of your success? But I enjoy being different, and I suspect the ‘03 would be one of the oldest cars there, which is exactly the point.

Common sense says, take the newest, most efficient, lowest-mileage car on a long trip since it’s only two of us, anyway. But I’m tempted. If it wasn’t 300 miles one way I’d take the Ford, hands down.