The E36 is “Down For It All”

Few things get me out of bed before the sun rises — the cat throwing up, the dog barking (or whining) for breakfast, and any opportunity to drive my E36. Thankfully, on an uneventful Tuesday, it was something involving my E36 that made it easy to lift my head off the pillow, put on my glasses, and take my morning dump.

The sunrise was nice, too.

I was lucky enough to be gifted a “Down For It All” Lululemon hoodie for Christmas. It turned out to be “Tight Around It All” as holiday meals and my (intentional) weight-gaining endeavors have been forcing me to upsize clothes lately.

Thus, an adventure presented itself to exchange the aforementioned hoodie for a more suitable size.

Conveniently, the closest Lululemon store was 35 miles south in Newport, CA’s “Fashion Island” (not an actual island). Or at least that was the closest store that I wanted to drive to. There may have been one 15 miles east, but that one wasn’t by the beach.

I digress.

Aside from the typical Southern California traffic, the drive was uneventful, yet somehow still sublime. I occasionally remind myself that the E36 is now an 8-track amongst the modern and fast road-going "streaming-service" appliances. It shows when trying to merge and stay out of the blind spots of SoCal’s fellow road-goers. The modern-day Camry has more power than any variant of the U.S. E36…

Nevertheless, there are moments of bliss on the highways (and especially backroads) where all else disappears after a downshift, blip of the throttle, and a row through gears 2–3–4.

The E36 remains lightweight by today’s standards, and although the power steering is guaranteed to leak, the hydraulic system will make the chassis dance while communicating better than 99% of today’s cars.

There may be a time when people no longer have the opportunity to experience automotive joy like this. Especially while accomplishing mundane tasks like exchanging a gift. Vehicles of the future promise full autonomy — safer, more convenient, and necessary. But what I experience every time I drive my E36 will become more and more rare. A dying breed, if you will. For enthusiasts who “get it”, I’m likely preaching to the choir. But if there’s anything I realized today, it’s that I’ll continue to enjoy driving my E36, however long that may be. I’m just grateful that it’s “Down For It All.”

E36 in the wild.