M3 or 540?

Right now I have an E36 M3 and my wife drives an E39 530i. Before the five, she drove a VW TDi. Before the M3, I drove Miatas and E30's.

Who will be the primary driver for the new car - you or your wife? If you, get the four door M3 (hold out for a four door, I wish I had). If your wife, get an E39. Both cars are the best of their breeds - the E39 was the primo luxury sport sedan of its generation, and the M3 was the best sports sedan of its era.

You will love the M3 and it's amazing ability to be perfectly at home both on the street and track, but your wife will find the rear cramped and the suspension overly firm. Your wife will love the sophistication, class and spaciousness of the E39, but you will daydream of a car with more responsive handling and road feel.

TDi? Heh. They're a very practical, functional car and a terrific tuning platform for the hypermileage geeks. The MKIV TDi's were also the slowest passenger cars sold at that time and are not at all drivers cars. My wife is a little sentimental about hers (it was her first new car) but you'd have to pry her BMW steering wheel from her cold, dead fingers before she'd go back to another Jetta.

PS - Several good deals on choice E36's and E39's have come up on the Georgia board over at BimmerForums.com. A number of the more active Peachtree BMW CCA members hang out on that forum and are a great resource for local leads: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=176

^Good comments.

The G35 sedan sounds like a cool option. The rear seats are larger than the e36 and e46 BMW sedans. Its probably hard to find in a manual trans though. I understand they are pretty fun and very reliable.

A 330i may fit the bill as well. Its not an e36 M but they compare favorably.

The e39 5 series is also a pretty nice car. I've heard too many maintenance horror stories of the V8 though.

The Audi A6 is a pretty nice driving car as well. Pretty good handling and steering feel and pretty roomy inside. A4s aren't bad either. The AWD is very nice to have in the rain and other inclement weather.

What are Mazdaspeed6 going for these days? Or the newer Legacy GT? AWD, turbo, jap car reliability is always a nice thing

DILYSI Dave wrote: The M3 has surprisingly little interior room. Less than my CRX had.

Exactly one reason why I love the E36 M3. I prefer cars that fit like a glove.

IMHO both cars will be fun. The M3 is lighter and easier to throw around. The 540i has the benefit of the V8 and all the joy that comes with that.

I would also echo some other peoples complaint about interior room, especially in the back seat. Even in my brothers E46 sedan I could barely fit in the back unless the front passenger had their knees in the dashboard. Also interior quality always has been suspect (headliners, window regulators, door panels, other random electrical do dads and interior pieces).

I have no direct experience with the 540i interior. It is roomier in the front and back but i do not know how well it holds up.

Again these are my experiences and a well taken care of example should hold up just fine.

Wow, more great input, thanks!

We (wife and I) talked over the weekend. We could count on 2 hands the times that she and the little one had either used the car, or ridden with me in the car.....99% of the time it's going to be in the SUV.....

SOOOO.....she looked at me with a crooked smile and told me to go find/drive/buy the one I want....even a coupe if I come across it.

There is a super clean 98 4 door m here in atlanta.....but the guy wants 11500 and won't budge. Not sure I want to spend that, but IF I did, 02-03 M3's have gone through the auction in the low teens as of late...and I'd of course stick with the newer option there for nearly same money.

Hopefully this weekend I can get out and find a few of these to drive.

Then I've got to find a seller than doesn't think just because the car says BMW, it's worth 3K more than everyone else thinks it's worth. I'll probably end up with a G35 due to this problem

RandyS wrote:

DILYSI Dave wrote: The M3 has surprisingly little interior room. Less than my CRX had.

Exactly one reason why I love the E36 M3. I prefer cars that fit like a glove.

I drove an E36 this weekend at the Dixie National Tour. I'm still limping. The center console digs right into the side of my right knee. My knee looks like I was trying to keep Tonya Harding out of the olympics.

Get the 540i with a 6speed. You will NOT be disappointed.

Like DILYSI Dave said, while the M3 is and amazing car, it is NOT a family car. Your kids will be stuffed in the back with no room for anything else. Besides once you hear a 540 V8 with an open exhaust you'll be ready to try for a third kid if you know what I mean

Still lookin'. The 540 I had my eye on was just totaled :( I was actually getting ready to buy a plane ticket to go check it out and drive it home, but it's gone now.

IF I could find my way into an auction w/a dealer, I think I could find a 02-03 M3 w/75-90k miles in the low teens, which I would buy. All of my auction leads have been exhausted though...

Now I'm trying to decide....buy an older M3 95-98 in the 8-9k range, or a 02-03 330 sedan for a touch more.

Then again....a P71 would be a pretty cheap alternative. Decent on gas, can be played with, haul the kids, etc. Not a bimmer, but for 2-3K ?

I love/hate car shopping

How about a nicely used Subaru Legacy sedan(turbo)? Gas mileage won't be best in class. However, they are safe, reliable, and their is aftermarket support. The 2.5turbo can produce a lot of power, even with just an ecu upgrade. Find one with heated seats and your wife will love you. Or you could go the wagon route to have room for all the kid stuff you'll have to bring around....though I think it is tougher combo to get a manual tran, 2.5t and wagon body.

I have ridden in a couple of TDIs, a stock mk4 golf, and a mk2 golf with a modded 98 tdi swapped in, and they seem decent to me. The only problem is, a nice mk4 is $10k+, even a nasty mk3 is still $5k or so, or a totaled but still running one is $2-3k.

yup to the above. Seems like if I'm going to spend 10-12K, I might as well get either a 540 or 330i.

Indecently, I've found a slew of 4 door M3's (e36) somewhat local, but they are ALL auto's :(. I wonder how hard swapping in a 5 speed would be on something like that.. (or how expen$ive )

Wife surprisingly likes all the choices so far, cept the P71 idea I got some WEIRD looks from.

I think you can compile all the parts necessary for an M3 5-speed swap for about $800-1000, for what it's worth. I love the M3, but would be looking long and hard at a 540i for the space.