In conclusion, and in short, I really, really like this coupe. The Z3 Coupe 3.0 always seems happy to go anywhere. Want to drive down the traffic choked highway? Yay! Want to park in a front spot at Walmart? Yay! How about a drive in the pouring rain? Yay! It was happy to go anywhere at any time. Where it doesn't differ from the M Coupe driving experience though is the sense of occasion. It made every mundane trip something to look forward to.

While it drove 1000+ miles home uneventfully and felt great mechanically, it was a little bit of a mess in other ways when we picked it up. Aside from the aforementioned paintwork, the hatch wouldn't stay open (nor lock), the seats rocked like crazy, the dead pedal was cracked, the headlights were nearly opaque, the door and hatch handle gaskets were disintegrating away, the key fob buttons worked intermittently, most of the bulbs in the 3rd brake light were burnt out, the glove box was hanging, all the roundels were down to bare metal, the seat bolsters were worn, the door panel trim was hanging off, the interior driver door handle came off in my hand, the washer fluid lines were missing, and everything rattled. Oh, and there was still that oil leak. It was definitely a project

I work from home, so I don't really have or need a "daily driver", but i really wanted to try to use this coupe as much like one as my lifestyle affords. For years I've recommended Z3 Coupes for people looking for daily drivers, and I needed to validate my recommendations. I pretty much drove it whenever there wasn't snow on the ground and I had one or fewer kids with me. Like all coupes, it made each and every one of the drives more fun.

If you have followed the M Coupe Buyers Guide at all, you've probably seen the Project Coupes. There have now been 9 of them after all. I'd like to introduce you to the inaugural Z3 Coupe Buyers Guide Project Coupe. I've been maintaining this guide for 4 years now, and I realized I had not driven a non-M Coupe since the very first time back in 2001. But after hosting 10+ M Coupes at my house, how would the non-M stack up? That question will be answered over the next few articles.