Are you ever concerned that driving an M could hurt your career?

[nicknaz]

Originally Posted by ///Mangler

....

What happened?

Did your coworkers trash your car?

Or did your make good on your username by sliding into a guardrail?

Hope you are ok

[Robby29]

Working in the healthcare field I get that feeling too.. "oh he drives a nicest car in the parking structure". I'm also one of the youngest in my unit. BUT I'm a car guy and I love driving my M4 to work. It definitely wont affect my career either since its based on experience and work ethics. Just enjoy what you have and chips will fall into place

[MNR]

As long as you're not ostentatious about it, it shouldn't become a problem.

I've learned to expect it in my line of work, but I am not changing my own enjoyment for the satisfaction of others. If others want to spend their disposable income on material items or jewelry so be it - I prefer to spend mine on vehicles. Different strokes for different folks.

That being said, I've always found it comical how one could show up in a Yukon Denali and catch all kinds of flack yet return in a fully loaded Tahoe without a word being said.

[Pikaabmwm6]

I drive my M6 as a daily and also take it to work, but never had any bad comments about it.
Hoping the new M4 wont give me any trouble🤣😅

[BluM4]

No, it is a BMW and not a Porsche or Ferrari. 90% of the general populations cannot even tell the difference between a F30 or E90. Your F80/82 is just another 3 series to most people, maybe with a funky color (I got more complement of the color YMB than the M).

Life is way too short to care about some co-workers (even your boss) think. Just ignore the comments or tell them to f-off. No reason to worry. Most of them will be insignificant characters during your journey. The one who will help your career will not be the one who cares about the car you drive.

[dpgfunk]

people are getting really creative with topics lately

[///Mangler]

Originally Posted by nicknaz

What happened?

Did your coworkers trash your car?

Or did your make good on your username by sliding into a guardrail?

Hope you are ok

Bought it like that. Will be in it for under $30k when all done. 2016 with 24k miles.

T

[Miller1989]

Originally Posted by Chris_DM

This is one of the more asinine statements I've seen in a while. So if an employee is driving a low-end car, whether it be for saving money, a financial burden or he/she doesn't care about cars then it somehow reflects on their work skills and merit?

If one of my employees was driving a 200,000 mile beater and doing it so he/she could put that income elsewhere, invest, support their family, maybe save for something better etc. do you really think that would somehow reflect poorly on them? Actually, judging anyone's merit based on their car at all is outrageous.

Likewise, if someone making $80k/year and driving an M4 came to me to ask for ask for a raise, etc. I wouldn't care either...it has absolutely nothing to do with their work and what they deserve to be paid.

I agree. Some people are D bags though. I went to my manager recently for a raise. 500 more per month, not much. I recently got my M3, he stated you shouldn't be getting things you can afford. I almost lost it. I definitely can afford it, wouldn't have got the car if I couldn't. I just like having more money.

[GrussGott]

Originally Posted by Andrae26

People at my job always ask me how I afford my 2018 M3 at 27. I worked with my dad for 4 years as a teenager and ...No two people have the same luck...

This is well said: LUCK. having a dad makes you pretty lucky. Having a dad with a job, luckier. A dad with a job, who can pay your bills as a kid even luckier. A dad with a job who can pay your bills and hire you young, even luckier still, etc.

None of us pick our genetics, our parents, our country of birth, our friends and family or experiences growing up, the towns we grow up in, the economy we start in, etc. None of that is our choice or in our control.

At best, the MOST any of us can honestly say is we didn't fuck up a good hand.

The rest is complete and total luck.

Originally Posted by Robby29

Working in the healthcare field I get that feeling too.. "oh he drives a nicest car in the parking structure".... BUT I'm a car guy and I love driving my M4 to work. It definitely wont affect my career either since its based on experience and work ethics. Just enjoy what you have and chips will fall into place

I work in healthcare too with a LOT of experience in SoCal scene and if you think it won't affect your career you're fooling yourself (but it has nothing to do with healthcare).

If you're coming up, anything flashy will be a detriment simply because people like to win and you will either threaten them or they'll feel jealous and want to take you down a peg. There's only one place where this won't be to your disadvantage: sales, and even there it's 50-50 depending on level of douchebag in the place you're hiring in to.

In short, people will judge you on everything, so the fewer things you give them to judge you on the better ... unless you're a douche who's hoping to be hired by douches. They like flashy shit. Everyone else either won't know dick about your car or will judge you negatively for it ... might not be enough to hurt you, but it sure won't help.

[94jedi]

Originally Posted by F80STEVE

I work in IT for city government and I am fortunate enough to drive an M3. In no way am I rich, I purchased my M3 used for a great price and I do 5-6 real estate deals a year. I've worked hard and promoted up but still considered an early point in my career and hope to continue on to promote. I also try to stay low profile and out of any of that office drama/talk.

Do any of you guys who are in starting or lower levels of your career feel like you shouldn't be driving M because you feel it might hinder your chances of promoting? ie. bosses/coworkers seeing you drive a nice car and feel some type of way about it.

Lots of smart people in here (and some not so smart) so although I'm sure it's been said, I'll say it again - What you drive is not anyone's business but your own. Work hard, spit in the face of mediocrity, strive to do your absolute best, day in/day out, and your career will be just fine. I, like you, work in IT (well, cybersecurity) and although I'm 41, I'm still pushing to climb that corporate ladder. Doesn't matter that I drive an M3 and will likely be in an M5 in a few months. To my earlier point, I don't just show up an punch the clock. I don't do the bare minimum to get by. I go above an beyond every damn day and strive, not to be good...to be EXCEPTIONAL. That's how I approach my career and what I do. Having said that, I'm not rare, I'm not special, hell I'm sure there are people much better than me in my own department...but they won't outwork me, they won't be more prepared than me. So with that approach, your career will be fine, regardless if you drive a really nice car or not. In other words, let your effort speak for itself. Be known as the guy that gets the job done, done well, and done early, not the guy that drives an M3.

Sorry for the rant, I'm pretty passionate about career stuff.

[SMGCFP]

OP, I think the financial choices you make, that others can see, will allow people to judge you for it. If your boss (or whomever can promote you) sees your M car as a bad financial choice, he/she may come to a conclusion that your aren't financially responsible. This may be a factor in being promotable. Whether you are or aren't responsible with your money isn't the issue, it's what someone in a power to help/hinder your career thinks.

Now, you can't obsess about what others think. Do what others have suggested here and let your performance speak for itself.

[nicknaz]

Originally Posted by SMGCFP

OP, I think the financial choices you make, that others can see, will allow people to judge you for it. If your boss (or whomever can promote you) sees your M car as a bad financial choice, he/she may come to a conclusion that your aren't financially responsible. This may be a factor in being promotable. Whether you are or aren't responsible with your money isn't the issue, it's what someone in a power to help/hinder your career thinks.

Now, you can't obsess about what others think. Do what others have suggested here and let your performance speak for itself.

Agreed and as others have mentioned, good to switch bosses / companies if you find out that's the case, where you are judged for your car and not your merits.

Regarding the comment that sales people can get away with flashy cars. It's true. It's almost expected.

But even there, there are exceptions. A couple of clients ago, I was explicitly told not to show up in a 911, since that triggered the senior execs at that client for whatever lesson. Yes it was dumb to have to hold off on my purchase because of other peoples' issues and biases, but that's life

[overlook637]

Speeding tickets could destroy my career. With bm3 and a nice exhaust its hard to not let the pedal get mashed a little.

Other than that I don't worry.

[GrussGott]

Originally Posted by 94jedi

In other words, let your effort speak for itself. Be known as the guy that gets the job done, done well, and done early

Depends on your career goal.

If your goal is wealth, then hard workers are a dime a dozen - it might get you rich, but won't get you wealthy. What's the difference? Rich is when you earn a big salary, wealth is when you don't need to earn any salary ...

And there's only one way to guarantee wealth - and it's not risky for me to tell you because almost nobody has the brass balls for it: saving WAY more than you earn. Any decent IT guy can be wealthy in about 10-15 years if they're working hard for themselves by saving.

If you're not willing to save 50% or more of your salary, then hard work won't be enough - there's a saying: that which got you here, won't get you there. In fact there's a whole book about it..

Unfortunately even that's not enough. To get to the summit you'll need at least one of 3 super powers:

(1.) Great Strategist.
Anyone with this skill already knows all of this, so if you're still reading it's not you.

(2.) Ruthless Politician (=Sociopath/Psychopath)
I put you in a room with 5 co-workers (two are your family) and a knife on the table. You slit all their throats while they're still wondering why I locked the door.

(3.) Great Rainmaker (=Sociopath/Psychopath)
You think I'm fuckin with you? I am not fuckin with you ... I drove here in an $80,000 BMW ... do I have your attention? 'cause it's fuck or walk

It's pretty much all summed up here, in the best 7 min NSFW career speech ever given:

[gatorfast]

Originally Posted by GrussGott

Depends on your career goal.

If your goal is wealth, then hard workers are a dime a dozen - it might get you rich, but won't get you wealthy. What's the difference? Rich is when you earn a big salary, wealth is when you don't need to earn any salary ...

And there's only one way to guarantee wealth - and it's not risky for me to tell you because almost nobody has the brass balls for it: saving WAY more than you earn. Any decent IT guy can be wealthy in about 10-15 years if they're working hard for themselves by saving.

If you're not willing to save 50% or more of your salary, then hard work won't be enough - there's a saying: that which got you here, won't get you there. In fact there's a whole book about it..

Unfortunately even that's not enough. To get to the summit you'll need at least one of 3 super powers:

(1.) Great Strategist.
Anyone with this skill already knows all of this, so if you're still reading it's not you.

(2.) Ruthless Politician (=Sociopath/Psychopath)
I put you in a room with 5 co-workers (two are your family) and a knife on the table. You slit all their throats while they're still wondering why I locked the door.

(3.) Great Rainmaker (=Sociopath/Psychopath)
You think I'm fuckin with you? I am not fuckin with you ... I drove here in an $80,000 BMW ... do I have your attention? 'cause it's fuck or walk

It's pretty much all summed up here, in the best 7 min NSFW career speech ever given:

Meh that sounds similar to the FIRE concept. Most people would rather enjoy the fruits of their labor along the way rather than live vastly below their means for an extended period of time. If your ultimate goal is to stop working as quickly as possible then the FIRE strategy makes sense. But if you dont want to eat ramen every night or live in a shoe box and instead want to enjoy your current success then that strategy doesnt work for most people.

[praxis218]

Originally Posted by gatorfast

Meh that sounds similar to the FIRE concept. Most people would rather enjoy the fruits of their labor along the way rather than live vastly below their means for an extended period of time. If your ultimate goal is to stop working as quickly as possible then the FIRE strategy makes sense. But if you dont want to eat ramen every night or live in a shoe box and instead want to enjoy your current success then that strategy doesnt work for most people.

The linked article is kind of extreme. I don't get how $1 million can afford someone a comfortable retirement in their 30s unless they want to live in poverty for the rest of their lives.

After retirement account maxed out I'm still investing 60-70% of my monthly take-home pay and still driving a fun car and living in a nice high-rise. Hopefully will be retired in my early 40s comfortably.

[M3OW!]

Originally Posted by GrussGott

This is well said: LUCK. having a dad makes you pretty lucky. Having a dad with a job, luckier. A dad with a job, who can pay your bills as a kid even luckier. A dad with a job who can pay your bills and hire you young, even luckier still, etc.

None of us pick our genetics, our parents, our country of birth, our friends and family or experiences growing up, the towns we grow up in, the economy we start in, etc. None of that is our choice or in our control.

At best, the MOST any of us can honestly say is we didn't fuck up a good hand.

The rest is complete and total luck.



I work in healthcare too with a LOT of experience in SoCal scene and if you think it won't affect your career you're fooling yourself (but it has nothing to do with healthcare).

If you're coming up, anything flashy will be a detriment simply because people like to win and you will either threaten them or they'll feel jealous and want to take you down a peg. There's only one place where this won't be to your disadvantage: sales, and even there it's 50-50 depending on level of douchebag in the place you're hiring in to.

In short, people will judge you on everything, so the fewer things you give them to judge you on the better ... unless you're a douche who's hoping to be hired by douches. They like flashy shit. Everyone else either won't know dick about your car or will judge you negatively for it ... might not be enough to hurt you, but it sure won't help.

Nailed it. :golf clap:

[Deteria]

I drive a M4 and it's one of the nicer cars compared to what my colleagues own. I'm not by any means upper management, just middle management. Trick is no kids lol. People above me make a bit more, but also have more responsibilities.

[GrussGott]

Originally Posted by gatorfast

Most people would rather enjoy the fruits of their labor along the way rather than live vastly below their means for an extended period of time.

That's true, and, if I'm being honest, the gilded cage lifestyle made tons of sense until about 35 ... and then at about 42ish I decided being wealthy sounded pretty fucking great. Best part is, I am so very fortunate to have the option. If you're smart and strategic, saving is pretty easy - you'd have a hard time convincing anyone I've lived a life of paucity (once I flew to texas for tacos from Taco Cabana - ok, I guess that's not the best example )

Anyway, I guess for me the #1 fruit of labor is freedom; and since saving is deferred spending, one can have all the other shit too. but, to your point, choices.

In a related story ...

[espho]

If you are that worried about it to post on here, then just get a beater. If you can afford the m3 you can afford to get a beater. Make it your winter car (if that is a thing where you live) and call it a day man. But who really cares... we all have our vices.. can you sit in a meeting with a 18k watch on your wrist when the boss is wearing a timex?
.. I'd really not worry bro. Enjoy the car!

[JamesMA]

When I started working, I was working for people that made it clear that if I drove a nice car, that they would think I was being paid too much. This mind set can definitely exist in some people and anyone that says it does not has been lucky or not paying attention. When I bought my first BMW, a civiv E46 325i, many years ago I kept it from them for this reason. A co-worker confirmed my thoughts on this so I am glad I did for a while until I got more established. Now I am the boss so I don't give a f--- what people think . YMMV.

[TommyLights]

Originally Posted by jninja

I work from home- for 6 years now-- online/eBay business. So in that regards no I don't worry about work related car drama. I will say though, I often feel like other parents at my kids' schools maybe have some jealous/ignorant thoughts, probably based more on the 'new BMW car', rather than the "M3" part

The funny part is that I've had several kids at my daughters' schools stop and drop jaw at my M while dropping off / picking up. I've gotten feedback such as "your Dad's car is sick!" and "NICE BMW!"... kinda funny to me now at age 33 with my daughter's (11) & (4)




Own it.

How hard has it been for you with insurance/ebb and flow of business? I've been contemplating losing the day job and just concentrating on the business but have always worried about this.