A Rather Interesting Poll!

[BMW4LIFE]

which of these would be the best bang for the buck, most fun to drive, most reliable, easiest to maintain, and cheapest to maintain

[bmwrp8]

which of these would be the best bang for the buck, most fun to drive, most reliable, easiest to maintain, and cheapest to maintain

Intersting post indeed! I want em all!

[BMW4LIFE]

3 way tie?!?!?!?!

Now you wonder why I posted this poll!

[632 Regal]

3 way tie?!?!?!?!

2 way now

[BMW4LIFE]

2 way now

e34 M5 huh...interesting choice indeed...may i ask as to what your logically reasoning behind your choice is? =)

[bubba966]

Shoulda had a '95 540i M-Sport or '95 M540i in the poll. Fits nicely in the criteria you provided, except "cheapest to maintain" when you eventually need to replace the shocks. The EDC's on an M-Sport/M540 are a bit spendy. Otherwise it's cheap to maintain. It'll out track the E34 M5 & E39 540. It'll keep pace with the E46 M3. And it won't be too far behind the E39 M5. They're not too spendy to pick up, if you can find one.

[Tiger]

Anything M cost a fortune... Just the parts alone are far more costly than any regular BMW.

[BMW4LIFE]

Shoulda had a '95 540i M-Sport or '95 M540i in the poll. Fits nicely in the criteria you provided, except "cheapest to maintain" when you eventually need to replace the shocks. The EDC's on an M-Sport/M540 are a bit spendy. Otherwise it's cheap to maintain. It'll out track the E34 M5 & E39 540. It'll keep pace with the E46 M3. And it won't be too far behind the E39 M5. They're not too spendy to pick up, if you can find one.

yea i like them too...but they are almost impossible to find! =/

i think the e39 540i seems to be the most REALISTIC choice out of all of them even though im tempted by the e34 M5

[bubba966]

yea i like them too...but they are almost impossible to find! =/

Only hard to find if you want specific color & tranny combos. I'm sure you could find one for sale somewhere in the country within the hour if you didn't care one way or the other about colors or options.

I was specific about what I wanted in an M-Sport. And it took me 2 1/2 years to find one that pretty much fit (I'll retrofit the shadowline & seat heating at some point to have exactly what I wanted).

I'd actually given up after 2 years and started looking for a '99-'01 740i Sport. But couldn't find one in an acceptable configuration. After 6 months of looking for the right E38 I came across the M-Sport & bought it immediately.

Nearly 3 years now I've had it and still love it. Really glad I hadn't bought something else before the M-Sport. Would take it any day over my buddies '93 M5. He even envies most aspects of my M-Sport...

[bubba966]

Oh, and last I looked a set of 4 EDC shocks runs about $5,500 from Tischer BMW. Like I said, the EDC's aren't cheap. But it's such a sweet setup. And my fronts lasted 170k before they crapped out. Rears are still fine at 182k. So at least you don't need to replace them all that often...