You know the 1M is special when....

[buckeyegirl]

Just the other day when the weather was nice, I took my BSM out for a drive and some guys in a Mercedes did the dance around like the OP described. First hovering behind me, then beside then ahead to check out the car. Then back to the side for the thumbs up. It's an awesome feeling, I think I blush every time.

[Em/1]

Originally Posted by ozinaldo

In my personal experience it's the owners of Jeep and Mercedes; fat cars of fat people.

Advevo probably was drifting before that and put the car there as a result of it You have to give the guy some credit he can't be great in both driving/ drifting/racing and also in parking!

All kidding, cheers

+1 Mercedes by far the worst around Chitown.

[Robin_NL]

Well the parking is at our dealership, and I already parked mine.

Advevo called me where I was. I said: Dealership.
He came and parked his car like the way he parked it. No worries.

That's the true story. FWIW.

Cheers
Robin

[Aussie_in_London]

Trip to Lakeside Costco for the monthly stock-up today, sitting on 70 and chatting to the wife, up beside me pops a e46 335i blowing on his horn to get my attention, look over and the driver leans over his passenger to give me the thumbs up with the big smile, puts his foot down and continues on his way.............

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by Robin_NL

Well the parking is at our dealership, and I already parked mine.
Advevo called me where I was. I said: Dealership.
He came and parked his car like the way he parked it. No worries.
That's the true story. FWIW.

We want to see the movie of the spectacular sliding maneuver inside that parking zone.

[hollysmac]

In May 2011 I was on my way Memorial Day weekend to visit my daughter in Vermont. I got stopped by this very nice State trouper after I had slowed down to 80. We talked; he was a rallycrosser. I am a autocrosser. We knew some of the same SCCA folk. He ended up giving me a ticket for "unsafe use of speedometer" This was a "non-moving" violation. It wasn't cheap but there were no points on my record. What a prince.

Originally Posted by 1M Tex

I got stopped in a small Texas town by the local law enforcement recently. He walked up to the car window and apologized for stopping me but said he had to get a better look at such a great car. Better than getting a ticket.

1M envy.

[Dee Pee]

Two more very dichotomous street props....

Homeless guy shuffles over to me as I'm getting into the car. Doesn't ask for change. Just says "whoa, nice car." Goes back to where he was camped out.

Commuting home from work late. Notice someone coming up in the next lane quickly. Car slows and matches pace with me. Then he stomps it and takes off after a wave. Bentley Continental. Cool spoiler on that one, btw.

[Maximus_Prime]

I've had the same experiences as everyone else in this thread. Almost every time I take the car out I get a thumbs up, a random question at a gas station, a driver behind me taking pictures, etc. Since these occurrences are so common I've never felt the need to report them. But I recently had a pretty interesting experience that I thought you'd love to hear. Hope you like the story.

Last weekend the Ferrari Car Club of America had their annual "Spring Thaw" meet in Reston, Virginia. As a gearhead I had to go. On the drive down from Baltimore to the show I happened to pass by a beautiful yellow Ferrari 308 GTB. Since I love that car I decided to pull up next to the driver, double tap on the horn and give him a big ol' thumbs up. The owner, however, appeared to completely ignore me. I decided he was probably trying to change lanes and may have been distracted so I decided to let him be and merrily went my way.

Fast forward to the Ferrari show. It was of course stupendous. Lots of beautiful Italian machinery to weep over. And there in the corner was the yellow 308 that I had passed. I walked over to check it out and noticed the owner was getting something from inside the car, so I said "Are you the owner? I think I saw you driving on I95 south - I tried to give you a thumbs up!"

The owner (the prototypical Ferrari owner - a white male in his mid 50s) frowned and said "Oh, you were in the orange M3? I wasn't trying to race - I know your car is faster than mine." Of course, I had to correct him. "Well, it's not an M3, it's a 1M. And I was just trying to say 'hi' - not trying to race."

My interaction with the owner ended there. As soon as I said "1M," it appeared that everyone within earshot paused in their tracks and headed my way. My friend an I quickly found ourselves facing a small group of people. "Did you say you have a 1M?" "Where is it?" "Is it parked close by?" "Can we see it?!!" It was pretty surreal. Here we were surrounded by at least 50 Ferraris and yet these folks wanted to know about my measly little 1 series!

I ended up having a great conversation with these people. One of them mentioned that he was a car journalist and made professional video reviews of cars. It turns out that the now-infamous 1M video review done by the ditzy blonde girl (you old-timers in this forum know which one I'm referring to) was created by the company this journalist works for. We had a good chuckle over that review. He said the 1M was amongst the top 3 most fun cars he's ever driven.

You meet some really nice gearheads with a car like the 1M.

Oh, and these people were all hanging around talking to me about my 1M while we were standing not 150 feet away from two of motoring's most beloved Ferraris: a F40 and a 330 GTO. Here's some photo proof:

[Artemis]

Earlier today at traffic lights an older pedestrian crosses the street, stops in the middle, gives me the thumbs up with an approving nod, whilst saying "belle voiture" ("nice car") and moves on. Will never happen when I drive my other cars.

This evening in the dark on a calm road I accelerated a few times to enjoy some Akrapovic aural pleasure. At some point I noticed the headlights of three bikers behind me approaching at high speed (the typical shaky lights in the rear view mirror). Looks like they must have noticed the Akra rasp. For the known courtesy reasons towards bikers, I move myself as far a possible to the right side of the road to allow them a swift pass without changing lanes. Instead of passing me, the three bikers come hanging next to me on the left. The one in the front starts to violently rev his bike repeatedly, smiled at me (open helmet), greeted me and then they all dashed off with an impressive acceleration. Seems that they appreciated the courtesy move.

A couple of weeks ago, a homeless man at the traffic lights approaches my car. I partially roll down the window and he says: "I don't want change, man. Can I just see the dashboard ?", so I rolled the window further down. He gazed for a moment at the instrument panel with a thoughtful look and then said "Thanks man, great car !" and he walked towards another car. I was stunned for a few seconds or so by this surreal encounter.

[1MOz]

a 8 years old boy walked by my parked car and said to his dad: "That's a fast car".

[b33g33]

GF and I were walking into the local WholeFoods when a guy ran up behind me and said "that's a nice 1M, I like it in black"

I thanked him and we went about with our shopping because we were in a rush.

When we walked out about 15 minutes later I noticed a '13 Golf R pulling up behind me.

The same guy got out and said he had to wait to take a look at the car. I let him take a quick look while the GF rolled her eyes a bit (She's a Porsche gal and not really into the cult of cars )

Apparently, he had tried to get an allocation back in 2011 and his dealer failed to.

[evolution80]

after i got my 1m licence plates on monday (car has been in the garage since beginning of november!!) i drove around for an hour or so - at least 3 pedestrians waved and pointed at the car

then later on when i decided to grab some healthy food at burger king a young guy in a modded audi a3 stopped his car on the main road (!) - blocking the traffic after him - to take a look at my car in the bk parking lot

[bdaddylo]

So after picking up my new Dinan sway bar today, I had a person block me in with a BMW loaner car. The driver gets out and asks, "Is your car for sale?" I told him no and he replied, "Can I give you my number in case you ever decide to sell it?"

[DooBs]

"You know the 1M is special when"... I spotted a Lamborghini LP640-SV and pulled up behind to capture a quick picture since I had never seen one in person. As I pull up next to him for another shot, he points at the 1M and gives a thumbs up.

Coincidentally Right after, a dark blue GTR catches up on the freeway and sends over a nod of approval. Before he leaves I catch a glimpse of a badge on the rear of the car... ALPHA

[Jive]

Nice stories everyone! It definitely it is a special and rare car. I've only seen two in person and given that i'm from San Francisco, California, that says a lot about its rarity!

[bdaddylo]

Last week started with a thumbs up from a racing yellow 996 Carrera 4.

[ozinaldo]

I never needed any help to remember that 1M is indeed a special car but yesterday when I participated in a car meet first time in Santiago where at one point the parking lot was filled with American muscle cars, old and new, a few Ferraris, including Italia and Scuderia, Porsches, Astons, AMGs, Ms one GT-R etc. I was reminded nicely how lucky I am. The amount of interest this car attracts is amazing, people either don't know anything about it and find it really eye catching and different or they know exactly what it is and they get excited when they see one in person and ask questions about this and that. I felt like I arrived there in a Gull Wing Mercedes or in a Countach, seriously, was expecting the opposite because I knew before arriving that there would be some heavy weight exotics there. I usually don't like this kind of attention but this time I took it as a compliment to 1M, a sign of respect for a great car.

[sbaki]

All the above stories are great and you would only believe if you have it. Now days driving and having a look around to see who is looking is natural, it is one respectable car.

We really do take our cars for granted, this is truly a dream car to many, Drive safe, enjoy what you have and show it some respect..

If you don't show this car respect, sell it to someone that will.

[Robin_NL]

Originally Posted by sbaki

If you don't show this car respect sell it to someone that will.

...you'll probably end up in a tree or the armco...

Cheers
Robin

[Artemis]

You know the 1M is special when...
...appreciation is high (http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showp...28&postcount=1) and depreciation low (http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=968722).

[rick propas]

So I'm pulling into the parking structure at Hoover Dam yesterday and the parking attendant takes my money, hands me a ticket and notes, "Man this car is sick!"

[Cole Trickle]

I've had this at a Bugatti Owners Club meet. Lots of people who owned Type 35s and Type 51s showing interest.

Its also happened with someone with a Ferrari 599 and another with an MP4/12C.

On the drive to work the road I take is used by Jaguar and Aston Martin test drivers in their camouflaged prototype cars. I get many approving nods from them.

It is clear that the 1M has created a real buzz in the automotive community. It is a unicorn car. People who know their stuff admire it and those that don't just think it’s another 1 series coupe.