Miscellany: 2013 BMW 328i final review - Drei-er Lint, Part III

It's been over eight years since I first bought my 2013 BMW 328i, and over six years since my last review of the car, and I am finally saying farewell to the old girl.  With over 168,000 miles on the road, my 3-series is positively elderly in German car years, and it's taken a lot of work (and a lot of money) to keep it in decent shape.

What kind of work? Well, aside from normal wear-and-tear items that any car would need (oil changes, new tires, brake pads, spark plugs, batteries, etc.), I've had to replace a couple of front control arms, the fuel tank value, the turbo intake air pipe, the starter motor, the valve cover and oil filter gaskets (multiple times), the coolant system, the driveshaft flex joints, the transmission line, the differential mounts, the horns, the hood struts, the door handles (multiple times), the rear passenger door trim, the cabin headliner, and even the center console cupholder.

Absurdly high maintenance costs aside, the car was fairly reliable (it only stranded me once, when I came out of a store and found the battery was dead), and it still drives like new. But I've grown tired of throwing money at it, so I am getting the lowest-maintenance vehicle I can think of: