[swagon]

Easy. E82.

Have had a 135i for 9 years now. 1Ms are not under 50k - which is the holy grail - so if I were to do it all over again, then I'd go for the naturally-aspirated 125i instead of the 135i and make it just like this tii concept car except the wrap.

The E82 1 Series is THE quintessential two-door BMW coupe. A bit boxy, a bit dorky, quite simple and small.

[Germanauto]

Originally Posted by swagon

Easy. E82.

Have had a 135i for 9 years now. 1Ms are not under 50k - which is the holy grail - so if I were to do it all over again, then I'd go for the naturally-aspirated 125i instead of the 135i and make it just like this tii concept car except the wrap.

The E82 1 Series is THE quintessential two-door BMW coupe. A bit boxy, a bit dorky, quite simple and small.

I recall driving a 135is back in the day. Shit blew my mind. What a fun light little car.

[Ric in RVA]

2011 F10 N52 ZF8 (magic box!) Near poverty spec
2011 E82 N52 manual sport

Now I need an N52 x5 and Z coupe to round out the collection.

[chad86tsi]

The term affordable is relative, so bear that in mind as I rationalize my answer.

I chose a 2019 CPO M760i-xdrive.

It was literally 1/2 MSRP pricing at the 3 year old mark with COP and under 20K miles and fully optioned = good price for what you get. You get an awful lot of car in a fully optioned M760i, so there is real value here when they depreciate so much in the first 3 years.

I don't care a lot about new and pending vehicle tech, what I do want is the luxury and comfort it offers at this price point. I don't want self drive, and it already has more power than this can't be used anyway. A $2300 Dinan tune will bring another 140 HP and 210 ft/lb if I want it, but for now I don't see the point.

I will drive it ~6K miles a year max, so it will still be well under it's designed lifetime when I need to move on in 10-15 years (when I retire and no longer have kids to shuttle). I may even keep it after that, we'll see.

It's been proven a pretty reliable drivetrain, and is more than enough fun to drive as-is.

It's rare and will be even more rare/special as EV's evolve, and I do tend to keep my cars long term anyway so it's not going to be difficult to get used to keeping this.

[jmg]

Originally Posted by chad86tsi

The term affordable is relative, so bear that in mind as I rationalize my answer.

I chose a 2019 CPO M760i-xdrive.

It was literally 1/2 MSRP pricing at the 3 year old mark with COP and under 20K miles and fully optioned = good price for what you get. You get an awful lot of car in a fully optioned M760i, so there is real value here when they depreciate so much in the first 3 years.

I don't care a lot about new and pending vehicle tech, what I do want is the luxury and comfort it offers at this price point. I don't want self drive, and it already has more power than this can't be used anyway. A $2300 Dinan tune will bring another 140 HP and 210 ft/lb if I want it, but for now I don't see the point.

I will drive it ~6K miles a year max, so it will still be well under it's designed lifetime when I need to move on in 10-15 years (when I retire and no longer have kids to shuttle). I may even keep it after that, we'll see.

It's been proven a pretty reliable drivetrain, and is more than enough fun to drive as-is.

It's rare and will be even more rare/special as EV's evolve, and I do tend to keep my cars long term anyway so it's not going to be difficult to get used to keeping this.

I see a 2018 M760i X-Drive going for $70k on autotrader. Not bad! I know nothing about the V12 though. Hows it going to hit my wallet in 100k miles? Hard to argue against it, it's a beautiful car! $70k+ is above my budget for an extra car however, I already have 3 other cars.

[chad86tsi]

Originally Posted by jmg

I see a 2018 M760i X-Drive going for $70k on autotrader. Not bad! I know nothing about the V12 though. Hows it going to hit my wallet in 100k miles? Hard to argue against it, it's a beautiful car! $70k+ is above my budget for an extra car however, I already have 3 other cars.

The N74B66TU engine is based on a V12 platform has been around a very long time, proven track record. It's a slightly larger version of a long line of V12's dating back to the BMW S70 (also used in the McLaren F1).

The N74B66TU only needs ~11 pounds of boost to make it's power, so it it doesn't work very hard. There are really no "common" problems with these engines like you find with the higher boosted hot-V's. N74B68 version of this engine is used in the Rolls Royce lineup.

I did lot of research and was planning to get an M5, but you can get a M760i for the same money. I drove both. The M760i is pretty close to the M5 on "fun to drive" (no track use) but way more enjoyable to drive when you aren't having fun. 590 ft/lb that comes in at 1550 RPM that lasts all the way to it's 7000 RPM redline is a big part of it's charm, it has almost no lag and is always willing to faster then you need it to. I already have a "track" car, so the M5 offered nothing I wanted that the M760i couldn't do better.

My guess/hope, it will hold up better than an M5 too. There were a few I found while shopping with over 100K miles for sale, they seemed to hold up very well. If so, I may end up keeping it well after I retire.

[jmg]

Originally Posted by chad86tsi

The N74B66TU engine is based on a V12 platform has been around a very long time, proven track record. It's a slightly larger version of a long line of V12's dating back to the BMW S70 (also used in the McLaren F1).

The N74B66TU only needs ~11 pounds of boost to make it's power, so it it doesn't work very hard. There are really no "common" problems with these engines like you find with the higher boosted hot-V's. N74B68 version of this engine is used in the Rolls Royce lineup.

I did lot of research and was planning to get an M5, but you can get a M760i for the same money. I drove both. The M760i is pretty close to the M5 on "fun to drive" (no track use) but way more enjoyable to drive when you aren't having fun. 590 ft/lb that comes in at 1550 RPM that lasts all the way to it's 7000 RPM redline is a big part of it's charm, it has almost no lag and is always willing to faster then you need it to. I already have a "track" car, so the M5 offered nothing I wanted that the M760i couldn't do better.

My guess/hope, it will hold up better than an M5 too. There were a few I found while shopping with over 100K miles for sale, they seemed to hold up very well. If so, I may end up keeping it well after I retire.

Good to know. I am not looking for a full blown M car either, since I already have a track car, and an MXXX can is plenty enough for a long term car.

[BMWILUVU]

F30 340i B58. Its just a great all-around daily car that can be modded to be stunning and with luxury features like paddle shifters, harmon kardon, heated everything, decent leather, nice moonroof, HUD, big brakes, and a nasty engine. Long road-trips over 30 mpg in comfort suspension, aggressive windy roads in sport, and the nasties on a racetrack. I drove an M2 around for several days and its always just ON, sometimes you want to relax and just be OFF. Same for G20 except the stunning mod looks.

[Theruleslawyer]

F36 440i Gran Coupe with the M sport and Executive packages.

B58, AWD, large hatch for practicality. If I was a touch more responsible I would have got it over my F82. Its a better street choice and its pretty dang cheap. The gran coupe body style isn't popular.

[W///]

Another brownie point for the X3 M40i. Drove it from SC to MD, and averaged 30+ mpg pure highway. I think that's absolutely crazy for a car this big and torquey. It's genuinely one of the best dailies I can think of.

Got 33.2 MPG (not calculated) from Richmond VA to about 1 hr North of Baltimore, with some stop and go traffic. Plenty of stretches of the trip was over 8x mph
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[fathia32]

My E90/92

[Limegrntaln]

I dont keep cars long, at all. 2-3 years, max. But this one...

[EezyBeezy]

My wife & I will keep our '18 F[am]80 M3 as long as we can and pass it onto our son Hopefully gas vehicles aren't entirely banned by then.

[M4_ZMT]

Originally Posted by Limegrntaln

I dont keep cars long, at all. 2-3 years, max. But this one...

I simply adore your color with these bi-color wheels. Stunning looking M4

[Limegrntaln]

Originally Posted by M4_ZMT

I simply adore your color with these bi-color wheels. Stunning looking M4

[F32Fleet]

ZF 8 HP. - Very reliable.
N55 - Easy to DIY and reliable.
No X-drive - Simplicity

Body style irrelevant but I would avoid models with soft touch plastics as they don't wear well.

My 435i is 8 yrs old and aside from 3 features* I wouldn't give it up for anything newer or older except for maybe my old E46 330 zhp

* 4G (Bummed that I lost traffic alerts)
* LSD
* Yellow M-Performance brakes

[HEY32G]

2006-08 Z4 M Roadster or Coupe (personally I'd take the roadster)

2015-16 Z4 sdrive35is

[Daftasabrush]

Can't see a need to change this anytime soon, it's 7 years old now and still love it.

[nicholasn]

E92 335is coupe in white w/ red interior and 6MT would be my pick. Other than an M car that would probably the be the only relatively modern BMW I would sell my 328i for (maybe a 135i but I prefer the look of the 335is).

[Glazonyoursix]

Easy pick for me would be the BMW I previously owned X2 M35i or X3 X-Drive 30i. Loved my X2 as it was extremely roomy yet fun and I've driven the X3 with the 2.0T and it was actually really good on power delivery.

[Bugs Meany]

Originally Posted by W///

Another brownie point for the X3 M40i. Drove it from SC to MD, and averaged 30+ mpg pure highway. I think that's absolutely crazy for a car this big and torquey. It's genuinely one of the best dailies I can think of.

And another point from me. The X3 is a great car. I wouldn't even call it big; it's just right. (The X5 is a little big; the X7, a monstrosity. Hate it.) Looks great, fun to drive, the very definition of all-purpose. Had to put your last sentence in bold; I agree that much.

[tuanies]

I bought my 2018 540d last March with the intention of keeping it for at least a decade. It satisfies all your bullet points, except pricing - I paid $54k, but it only had 18k on it, single owner.