Mad Professor said:
Sounds like your handy with the spanner and sponges Derin ,but then I guess that's why you're a cutter and I'm not . I have no manual dexterity or common sense when it comes to mechanical stuff although I can steer an endoscope ok I guess ,hardly difficult .You won't regret buying a Zed and actually if you drive within the law it's hard to use an M without feeling a bit guilty these days . I would say a 3,0 for road use is actually all you need ,for me it's more about the handling and Mid range torque for driveability .
Dare I say it but for the same money you can get a well sorted Boxster S ,which is also a great wee car .
I think it's a shame for junior docs nowadays because I feel they miss out on the experience that all those hours impart and when I was a senior registrar I basically ran the show while my boss was away doing other stuff .
I still really enjoy teaching the students and juniors and most of all I love doing the research ,that is when I can find the funding to do what I want . I've got five more years to go but I think I can still make a difference to clinical care with my research ,so that's what drives me .
I hope you find your ideal Zed ,be patient and you'll know when the right one comes along .
Like you I've bought some shockers along the way ,my TVRs in particular were costly and I didnt feel the love ,which is a shame as I always lusted after the marque ,and still do .
For me the zM is the closest thing to a Griff in character and cocept without the hassle and a lot cheaper to buy and run .
As for stories I recall doing a ward round for my boss Dame Turner Warwick at the Brompton as an SHO when we had all these visiting Professors , and I asked her if I could leave the boardroom to go for a leak - I was really desperate as I had a double espresso before the ward round , to which she replied ,yes that's fine but don't bother coming back . Stupid cow , not a nice piece of work at all , and what's more she shafted me after wards when I used her as my referee to get my next job on the London circuit at Queen square and Hammersmith ,which is why I ended up in Sheffield for next job . My boss in Sheffield a lovely bloke told me he couldn't belive how bad my reference was . Best thing that happened to me actually as I learned more there in a month there than in a year at the Brompton . In fact one of my old research fellows has just been appointed as a chair there which makes feel a bit old.
Prof,
Some great stuff in there! The bit about your next boss saying how he couldn't believe how bad that cow had given you made me laugh out loud!
I'll pm you about some more of the medical stuff as otherwise it'll bore other forum members I'm sure.
Coming back to cars....
Regarding these I completely agree with you as well. I actually owned an E46 CSL for a couple of years and whilst it was a lovely, exciting and terrific sounding car the reality was that it was just too insane and actually (if owners really owned up to it) just too fast to use, exploit or enjoy on the public road for literally more than a few seconds! And I live in one of the least congested parts of the country with lots of fast, open roads:
http://www.bmwclassics.co.uk/2003_M3_CSL/index.html
Add to that I know that materially, on a public road, a 'normal' E46 M3 is barely any slower. Even on a track in the hands of an ex-professional racing driver like Tiff Niddell a CSL was faster but no so much faster that a mere amateur would be able to match the difference and not so much faster as to justify the (hyped) 3 x price difference.
For exactly the reasons you've alluded to I was/am thinking in terms of a 3.0L Zed. My thoughts are that it's going to be amply fast enough to actually use the performance on a public road but at the same time much cheaper to buy and run than an M.
A Boxster S is certainly something else that I've been considering. Or even a Cayman. I know from reading that they're both supposed to be hugely capable and I do like the look of the Cayman but....
Firstly, Porsche is all completely uncharted territory for me. With 33 years of unbroken BMW ownership behind me I have, over the years, built up quite a large support network of mechanics and other knowledgeable people etc.
Secondly, I have this slightly irrational mental block about Boxsters. Even though, in my private thoughts, I do actually like the look of them, particularly of those Anniversary ones, I just remember when the Boxster very first came out and it being billed or derided as a bit of a "Girlie's" Porsche!
I know I shouldn't think that especially as it was a Boxster 3.2S that finally made me realise about 7 years ago just how totally outclassed the E30 M3 that I'd owned for 7 years had become! Now, there's another car that has become totally and utterly over-hyped. A word of advice to anyone considering being sucked into that web of hype and forking out on one of them now....they are just too flipping slow to cut it in the modern World! Even one of my BMW mechanics that I use and who specialised in working on them admits it! I was utterly humiliated one day in the E30 M3, on the A5 up here, by a Boxster S.
http://www.bmwclassics.co.uk/e30_m3/index.html
For these reasons, I think a 3.0L Zed is probably best for me. I accept that an M is probably going to hold its value more and I certainly would dismiss forking out for one if the right opportunity presented itself but actually this bring me on to another "rant" of mine. :lol:
This whole notion of "investment potential" being peddled by dealers is actually a fallacy at this level of the car market. Yes, hit it right and at the right time with something like classic Ferraris and one might make some decent money. The rest is like going into Bargain Booze, buying bottle of Jacob's Creek, keeping it sealed and staring at it for 10 years hoping that it's as "investment" and will materially be more valuable than when you bought it. It's all nonsense used to hype stuff!
Take my E30 M3 above. People talk about their values having "gone through the roof" and what a good "investment" they were. This is utter lies and nonsense. The only people who really benefitted from that notion were the dealers selling them at inflated prices. I sold that car about 7 years ago for £13K (with all the extras you see in the photos)....and that was considered top money then. So let's say that car would now be being sold (as they are) for double that i.e £26K. £13K extra in 7 years?! That's not even £2K/ year increase AND one hasn't taken out any of the unavoidable, annual costs of ownership yet...Insurance, tax, servicing, repairs etc etc. And you haven't even turned a wheel yet. It's utter lies! Don't believe the bull!
It's only at the high, stratospheric end of the car market that there's money to be made...and that really has little or nothing to do with the cars themselves. That's about already very rich people protecting and "moving" money around.
I'll give you one example...
A few years ago a car came up for sale with a high-end classic dealer in Germany on POA basis. It was my ultimate BMW... a 503 Cabriolet. At the time, I estimated they might want about 85K Euros for it. Before asking them I figured that if I sold all of my other cars plus took a loan that I might be able to scrape such a some together and sought clearance from my wife...which she gave me with a dubiously raised eyebrow. So, I went ahead and enquired. The response was 245K Euros! Obviously this put me firmly out of the frame.
Less than 2 years later that very same car sold for 600K Euros at auction! Now, that may be seen as a "true investment" because it had "gone up so much"! But...even that's all lies. It had gone up that much...and yes, there was true "investment value" in that car if you were the sort of person that needed to legitimise the money you'd got to pay out those sums in the first place?!
An E30 M3 or an E46 CSL or a ZM isn't "an investment"...that's bull...they're a money spinner for the dealers who might sell them on that flawed basis. And by the time folk wake up to that they've run off with the money and moved on to the next model to hype. Look at Mercedes Pagodas...there's another one. I had one...very pretty to look at...awful to drive...and not even rare! I saw one this week for sale here in the UK for over £150K LOL! (Actually it's on the website of the dealer who sold that 3.0L Zed I was interested in Edinburgh).
I'm sure a good Zed will turn up for me. As you say, I'll just take my time.
