It has been way too long for anyone with petrol running through his veins to be without steed.

It got so bad actually that I stopped all exposure to anything car related. I cancelled all my magazine subscriptions, stopped looking at Pistonheads Classifieds and removed myself from all the forums.

I dallied with motorbikes for a short while and phew, that’s one way of relieving the anxiety. But I push the envelope in cars which is why I love living on the edge of the boundaries of any car I own. Except apply that ideology to any motorbike and you’re just counting down the days until the inevitable.

I’m very much looking forward to an incoming thread of my own soon and to bring forward that day I made a conscious decision to sell the Alpina an instead get myself into a car I can torture a bit.

As emotive as the Alpina is, I’m not grease monkey enough to actually be this classic car owner I’m aspiring to be. So instead what I end up doing is depending on workshops to do the jobs for me – and that’s costing me a ridiculous amount. Put it plainly, the Alpina, when I bought it, cost me nearly £8,000 six years ago. I’ve spent at least three times that amount on this car.

It’s in for a final job – its last restoration. I have full faith in the work this time as I know the shop personally. Then, it’s sale time.

What’s to replace it? Baby steps for now, which means starting from the bottom of the ladder again. But I’m very excited by this prospect. I was looking to get back into a C63 again but now I’ve changed my mind and I want an E92 M3.

I’m at that excitable stage where I’m constantly reading reviews, watching YouTube videos and looking All. Bloody. Day. on Pistonheads.

I only have a budget of £25k and it seems a Competition Pack’d M3 is a little beyond my budget, but spread the word nonetheless.