Bought a BMW and now people treat me differently. Why?

[Baumber]

To me BMW's are just another car, but where I live people act like they are for rich people. Over the last month or so that I have owned the car, people have been giving me disgusted looks, cutting me off, provoking me to race them, dinging my doors, and making rude comments like saying "Did daddy pay for that?"

What do you think of BMWs and their owners?
What if you saw a 20 year old driving one?
Do you treat BMW owners differently than any other car owner?

Updates

+1 y

Forgot to mention its a silver 2004 M3, so it's fairly old. Bought it for $15k which is normal for a used car.

[Teded]

It isn't about the car, it isn't about you, it isn't about your daddy neither.

it's about jealousy and envy. Don't race them coz they probably just wanna wreck your car. You should probably just tell them to... fyke the fyking fyke off. Yeah.. that's pretty much as many fykes i can put into a sentence. Kudos to whoever knows the reference to this.

I don't see a problem with you driving one... I don't see a problem even if you're driving a Ferrari or Lambo, just hope you don't crash or it doesn't set itself on fire. Don't give a shit about those losers man! you're better than that!

[Anonymous]

For the same reason people will judge you based on the way you dress. A car is an extension of a persons style, and a persons style often gives clues to their personality. That is why women tend to be most attracted to guys with trucks. Guys that do a lot of construction, or have other important life skills that women are attracted to are more likely to drive trucks. Therefore you are judged differently based on what you drive. For better or worse, people will judge us based on our style, even when our style doesn't really reflect our personality.

[Baumber]

Women don't care about what car you drive. As long as it isn't something like a 1992 lumina van, most of them could care less.

[Opinion Owner]

I don't think you understood my point. While most women may not rule out a guy based solely on his car, the man's car gives the woman a lot of information about the guy as a first impression. In that sense most women will care about what type of car you drive. I am not suggesting that women are all gold diggers. This is about a person with no other information about you, trying to figure you out based on your style and possessions as they have no other information available at that time.

[spuitkaas]

https://youtu.be/snuxQg_4_l4

Just gonna leave this here lol.
Although BMW is not that uncommon here as in the USA. The stereotype of BMW drivers is that they're arrogant, always hasty and never use their direction indicators.
I know many people who don't buy a BMW because of those stereotypes.

[Bluetii]

Nice buy I think it's sexy that u have such good taste in cars even sexier if it's stick. Where abouts do u live? State? Seriously who cars what other people think. Especially if u work hard and bought it itself.

[Baumber]

Of course its a manual, wouldn't have it any other way! Live in Iowa so it snows a lot, but I kept my 2003 Cummins that I bought when I was 16 for the winter.

[Bluetii]

The perfect woman lives in Iowa!!!

[Baumber]

The perfect woman?

[abc3643]

I'd think exactly what these other people thought - especially if it's a relatively new beamer. Beamers aren't cheap. A good rule of thumb is that the base price of a BMW is about $12,000 times the Series number so, if you own a 3 Series BMW (the entry-level poor man's BMW), that's $36000 right there. To put things in perspective, that's over 1.5 years' salary of someone making $10.00/hour and that's before taxes.

[Baumber]

Well it's a 2004 M3, so it's not new and it's the price of an average car, $15k.

[abc3643]

Oh, it's an M3... well, there you go.

[Baumber]

Most of the people I tell don't even know what an M3 is, but when they hear it's a bmw, they freak out...

[NYkid27]

I guess people treat you poorly because BMW cars aren't common there so all they know about them are the stereotypes. BMWs are pretty common where I live and one of the biggest dealerships in the country is near my house so I've never had your problem

[genericname85]

well in germany, the BMW M3 line is THE douchebag/idiot ride XD without fail it´s driver is a tukrish pleb known to be aggressive and dumb. you wouldn´t want to have that stigma sticking with you, thus almost no "normal" person drives that car.

[Baumber]

Well I don't live in Germany... so why should I care what the citizens there think?

[genericname85]

Cause those stereotypes are often the same.

[matheus_mb]

You answered your own question: people are thinking you're rich, so they're treating you differently. It's pointless though, even if you were rich there would be no reason to hate you.

[Cosytoasty]

BMW's and Audi's are as common as muck these days, but you're always going to get jealous people that think because you are tiny fraction above the average wage, you've somehow don't deserve it.

[Dred1614]

Honestly, I think bmw's suck. My dad used to drive one when I was a kid and it was constantly in and out of the shop. That skewed my opinion. I couldn't care less about what you drive. I wouldn't think anything of it if I saw you.

[Baumber]

Like any used car... it's luck of the draw, Honda's and toyotas are no different when it comes to BMW's for reliability. The thing that gets BMW's is that they require more maintenance than a Honda, and most drivers don't do the extra work so everything starts to fail. It's not the cars fault if it wasn't maintained properly

[Dred1614]

His was brand new.

[Baumber]

I've put 5,000 hard miles onto mine since I bought it and it has not given me a single thing to worry about. I don't have a clue why your dads was so bad...

[Dred1614]

Me Niether. Luck of the draw I guess.

[Cusco_Othriyas]

BMW owners have a reputation of being horribly arrogant drivers

[Baumber]

Maybe that's because other people treat them like shit for driving one

[idiotmanchild]

Bimmer drivers have a reputation, lol. I probably won't care about the age part, but if you drive one, you better not be driving below speed limit if there are no cars in front of you, lol.

[Baumber]

I drive 5mph over at all times, yet they still tailgate the hell out of me...

[idiotmanchild]

Lol, you have an M3, yet that gets people's attention alright, lol.

[Baumber]

The funny thing is when I tell them it's an M3, they all look at me like I'm speaking a different language... they have no clue what an M3 is, it's all in the badge/logo.

[mikeaaa]

It's jealous people. I face the same thing. I retired young. I am not rich but they act like I am. Just live your life. They will find another reason to hate even if you had different car

[Finesse18]

They are just jealous that they don't have a job and the money to play for style 👌

[Finesse18]

*pay

[PizzaGuy22]

Theyre not that special tbh, and the sedans are pretty boring

[Baumber]

Yeah they only provide one of the best driving experiences...

[PizzaGuy22]

1000 horsepower monstrosity of a supra...

[Baumber]

How is a 1000hp supra a monstrosity?

[iFarted]

I'd just assume you love cars cause you got a m3. A normal person who wants something practical yet classy would've just bought a 325.

[Baumber]

The M3 is just as practical as any other coupe, and gives one of the best driving experiences imaginable.

[iFarted]

One doesn't normally associate practical with coupes

[Baumber]

Yet coupes are many peoples daily/only car

[Joeman1252]

No I just thonk therebetter than me... well intil I get my Ferrari

[Sabretooth]

i can beat you easily. i get hate for wearing knee pads with my cargo pants.

[ILikeToTalkToPeople]

I just saw a girl flash a guy to ride in his car today...

It wasn't a BMW, though...

[Kris85]

I could care less what a person drives at any age

[daremetwo]

I wouldn't think nothing of it.

[Anonymous]

Where do you live?

[Baumber]

Why does that matter?

[Opinion Owner]

Because that would actually explain their behaviour!