Purchase of 1998 BMW Z3 2.8 in Dakar

The One That Got Away (For 24 Years)

I was fourteen the first time I saw one.

A BMW Z3 in Estoril Blue, top down, cruising up Congress Street in Portland. I remember stopping on the sidewalk just to watch it pass. That same year, James Bond drove one in GoldenEye — though honestly, the car upstaged the movie for me.

For two decades, that image just... sat there. Life happened. The dream faded into background noise.

The Spark Returns

Fast forward to 2017. My wife and I are wandering through Bar Harbor when I spot it — a Hellrot Red Z3 M parked on the street. I made her stand there while I circled it like an idiot. She was patient. She didn't understand yet.

A year later, we bought a 2015 X5 together, and something clicked back into place.