It will go down as the second shortest excursion I’ve had in a car ownership but the Porsche Cayman is gone. Actually, it departed sometime in July but with work and everything else I’ve not had time to update here. Was in written off? Not at all and I can say it actually left my ownership in better shape than when I bought it. It’s gone to a very good home and someone who I feel confident will enjoy and continue to keep it in excellent working order.

In the end, after four months of ownership – the experience as a Porsche owner wasn’t quite what I wanted it to be with a handful of niggling issues like the head liner collapsing, a door handle breaking and the unexpected but apparently common white smoke dumps from oil settled in the cylinders – I just came away from the car more annoyed and inconvenienced than happy. One road trip to see family with the wife and luggage proved to be particularly unenjoyable when we had to transport a few gifts back, unexpectedly, in an already cramped two door, mid-engined car. We needed more room/space/capacity whatever you want to call it, a 6’4 person using a two door sports car as their primary car was not working. Sometimes when you feel things aren’t quite working the way they should – cut your losses and move on. No thanks to a poor experience with Porsche of North America’s customer service losing my title in the mail, the car was sold in a month’s time to a guy who plans to take advantage of the impressive local PCA chapter and really enjoy the Cayman which was reassuring that it went to a fellow enthusiast.

But move on I did. After nearly leaving at 4AM to drive to Miami to pick up a low mileage, one-owner E46 M3 the more fiscally responsible side of me kicked in and I worked a better deal on another car locally. With the savings to be had plus a few other perks, it made the decision to send the Cayman packing even easier.

The replacement? A BMW, of course and I haven’t looked back since. The car in question is a 2007 E91 328i Touring – aka the wagon. While wagons are only coveted by enthusiasts, this one has a few goodies to help it stand out from the rest of the crowd. The car came upgraded from my buddy whom I bought it from with the following:

- BMW Performance Aluminum Struct Brace

- BMW Performance Exhaust

- OEM E90 330i air intake – an enlarged, higher volume intake not equipped on any US-spec cars but came on the direct injection N52 330i

- OZ Alleggerita 18 x 8.5 up front with 18 x 9.5 in the rear – wrapped in Michelin Pilot Super Sports and pumped full of nitrogen

- Active Autowerke’s Stage 1 N52 ECU reflash

Thus far, the car has proved to be faster than any other wagons I’ve encountered, returns 30 mpg on my commute and keeps a low enough profile aside from a deeper, throatier rumble of the uprated exhaust. There’s a game plan in place to carry out additional modifications – primarily with OEM parts to keep the overall feel and aesthetic of the car consistent. Stay tuned as I hope to have better photos up soon plus a more involved write-up!