Opinions Wanted on 3-Car Fleet: E46 M3 + Family SUV + ???

[Pklauser]

I'm not hauling kids, but I went for the cheap E91 RWD beater route, and I've been enjoying it. 200k on the clock, definitely needed some work when I got it though.

[tnord]

I've gone through this exercise. My kids are older now, but the car seat thing is a major pain. For a while my solution was E46M3, e90 330 manual sport, and F15 X5. It took me 3 years to finish cooling and vanos overhaul on the M3 after our 2nd was born, listen to people that tell you there is NO time for major car projects. My e90 got stuck in a hailstorm and I had to go through this exercise all over again.

I've decided to keep it in the family and went with a F30 340i xdrive with track and handling package, but an 8HP. The wife can drive it in a pinch when I'm doing repairs on the F15, it has a bigger back seat than the E90, and the B58 seems to be as reliable as the N52. For the fun part I got a bootmod3 tune, which bumps it from like 350 to 425hp, put the euro spec eibach springs on it to fix the ride height and rake, and added a set of Bimmerworld TA5R wheels basically a stock F80M3 spec. So, what I've ended up with is more or less a car with roughly the performance of a stock F80M3, but more reliable and more comfortable for daily use.

The track and handling package uses the stock F80 brake setup, and foregoes fog lights for additional cooling capacity. I do 90% of the running kids around to school and practice, and I've had essentially no problems with it over 3+years and 30k miles. You should be able to pick one up for only slightly more than you're talking about spending on the e39, and it'll be way less hassle.

For me, this has been a good solution.

[BTB]

IMO If you're willing to consider a DCT, then you should also include cars with the ZF 8HP.
DCT's had their moment, but the 8HP has pretty much closed the gap performance-wise.

Our Cayenne does have the 8HP, though might not be the absolute best example as far as shift speed or even smoothness. It is effective though. I just love the theater of a proper wham bam paddle shift trans

[BTB]

Will your wife and infant be in this car at times? If so, your options are really, really limited with a proper rear facing seat. They are gigantic and will make normal sedans or hatchbacks impractical (IMO) for whomever is sitting in front of the child unless they are like 5 ft. tall. We have an almost 2 year old and a 4 month old, both in rear facing car seats. The older kid will go front facing in maybe 6 months? If we are transporting both children and any amount of stuff it has to be in an something quite large. I also want to point out that kids are an absolute mess. Goldfish, milk, spit up everywhere, the occasional diaper leakage...shit happens.

I would honestly buy something you don't care about too much, is reliable, that doesn't need much work and can haul a bunch of shit around.

We bought my wife a volvo xc90 before kid #1 arrived and she loves it, I find it to be fine. Mid-level luxury, very comfortable ride (air suspension) but the twin charged + mild hybrid system means it has absolutely no hints of being fun to drive. It gets us and our kids from A to B safely, in comfort and has room for some stuff. I cannot imagine fitting two car seats and any amount of necessary equipment in something much smaller. I had an F150 before the kids arrived. It used to be for hauling my racecar (no time for that anymore lol). Now it serves it's purpose as another kid hauler. Obviously has plenty of space for everyone to be comfortable. Once kid #1 is bigger I want to get something more entertaining but am cautious about getting something I care too much about (see the messiness above).

I know people do dad life with fun cars, and part of me really wants to be that dad. I still have fun cars. I drove my e46 m3 a few days a week before selling it and buying something even less kid friendly.

These are just my opinions as a man who's life has changed so much in two years with the growth of my family. It is awesome, I wouldn't change a thing, but so different.

Yeah, I probably need to get serious about the use case. Tbh I was just reading about the ages that require front facing, back facing seats, after I made this post lol 😬 I would agree whatever I get should be reliable and ideally cheap to run. I guess the root of the issue really is, we should only need one car that can do the rear facing seat, but probably should have two cars that either of us can drive. At the moment wife doesn't drive manual

[BTB]

This! Except for the kids being a mess. I don't let my kids eat anything in any of our cars, or drink anything other than water. As an X3M owner, unless your passenger is 5'2" a rear facing car seat won't work. And despite my X3M brethren, it isn't the ideal family car. It's fine, but not ideal size if you will do any roadtrips. My kids are 5 and 3, both front facing, and everything is fine. But something X5 sized would be ideal. I don't know much about the Cayenne, but I imagine it's roughly X5 size.

Having said that, some of you are being a little too dramatic about 1 kid. Its fine. Get whatever 3rd car you want. The only bearing the kid should have on your car choice is if you want to use it with a rear facing car seat. But if you have the Cayenne for that, and won't have a passenger in your 3rd car then that doesn't even matter really. Case in point, we have the X3M, and when I get the E46 buttoned up (it will have buckets), I am going to throw a car seat in the back and drive it almost exclusively unless I need to fit a second kid or the weather is bad.

I would like to implement a similar rule structure 😆 we'll see. The Cayenne has black leather so I feel like in general will take some abuse and still clean up with a proper detail. And yeah, Cayenne is basically X5 sized but prioritizes rear seat comfort slightly more vs cargo capacity. I'm 6'5” and it's like a limousine back there (not that I ride in back .. lol)

Just FYI, not sure what seats you're putting in E46 but with my Cobra Nogaros it's pretty tight for even a small person to slip into back seat. There would be no way for me to put a car seat in back seat in my car without removing a front seat completely

[BTB]

Lots of good suggestions, so I'll throw a curveball—air cooled 911.

If you squint, the e46m3 is a family car. Air bags, AC, usable backseat. The Cayenne requires no trickery, it's a great family car.

So . . . grab a fun two seat weekender that (once sorted) just needs gas and oil for the foreseeable future. And hey, they make car seats for them too.

I think air cooled car is out of my budget, but I like the way you think 😎😎 I was actually thinking ND Miata, something fun for wife and I to rip around in, not care too much about. Need to decide if we absolutely NEED two rear-facing seat capable cars (the E46 with fixed buckets will not transport any kids until they can ride in front, at least I think). The answer is probably no, in which case, you might be onto something there

[Bimma360]

Just FYI, not sure what seats you're putting in E46 but with my Cobra Nogaros it's pretty tight for even a small person to slip into back seat. There would be no way for me to put a car seat in back seat in my car without removing a front seat completely

Thank for the heads up! Yup Cobra Nogaro's on my end too. I was actually thinking that could be the case hahah. Well, I guess seat either comes out or I just get the kid seat in the back before I install them haha.

[oceansize]

Honestly, I left the car game completely from roughly 2004 to 2017. I had no time. I coached every sport my kids played when little all the way through middle school and then in high school the boy and I traveled the nation wrestling. Took them fishing, hiking, and biking. The only wrenching I did was oil changes.

Didn't miss cars one bit.

I did drive an interesting car (not fast, just interesting), 2013 Buick Regal GS (manual transmission). That was my exact car. Based off of the Opel Insignia. Had a few VW GTIs.

[PetrolM3]

As a father of a 3 year old and another 4 month old, my advice is to consolidate and simplify things for yourself for the next few to several years. That probably means getting rid of the E92. I don't see the need for another car here, just more expense, work and headaches. As others said above, you will be shocked at how little time and energy you will have and how radically your priorities and perspective will shift. Especially if you have another child within the next few years.

Personally, I got rid of my M3 after my first child was born. It became clear that I wouldn't have time to actually enjoy it like I used to, and it was taking up one of two garage spots, meaning my daily had to be parked outside both summer and winter. To be honest, it felt liberating to sell the M3. We now have two cars - E46 325i and MK8 GTI (which is awesome by the way despite me being a RWD fanatic all my life). The E46 is fully sorted but still 23 years old so it's my daily and my wife uses the GTI which is new so it's the go-to for long distance trips. Both cars have child seats and can handle child duties but we could easily do with just one car if we had to. We have a roof box for trips that require additional cargo space.

I couldn't see myself with a third car now or in the future, even if money were no object... there's just so many other family priorities that deserve our attention as well as other life spheres that are more important than yet another project car. My 2 cents..

[dreamdrivedrift]

I would like to implement a similar rule structure 😆 we'll see. The Cayenne has black leather so I feel like in general will take some abuse and still clean up with a proper detail. And yeah, Cayenne is basically X5 sized but prioritizes rear seat comfort slightly more vs cargo capacity. I'm 6'5” and it's like a limousine back there (not that I ride in back .. lol)

Just FYI, not sure what seats you're putting in E46 but with my Cobra Nogaros it's pretty tight for even a small person to slip into back seat. There would be no way for me to put a car seat in back seat in my car without removing a front seat completely

Not for your 3rd car but re your E46 I would consider putting stock passenger seat back in. It'll expand your use case.
I have a pole position in the driver seat and stock passenger seat in mine and it has allowed me to keep all of the rear seat functionality. I frequently have rear seat passengers and you might want to take your kids + wife in the fun car sometimes too. The practicality/comfort of the E46 expands the use case of the car and allow me to use it in more situations than just point A to point A driving. Try doing that in a 911, LC500, or BRZ.

[BTB]

As a father of a 3 year old and another 4 month old, my advice is to consolidate and simplify things for yourself for the next few to several years. That probably means getting rid of the E92. I don't see the need for another car here, just more expense, work and headaches. As others said above, you will be shocked at how little time and energy you will have and how radically your priorities and perspective will shift. Especially if you have another child within the next few years.

Personally, I got rid of my M3 after my first child was born. It became clear that I wouldn't have time to actually enjoy it like I used to, and it was taking up one of two garage spots, meaning my daily had to be parked outside both summer and winter. To be honest, it felt liberating to sell the M3. We now have two cars - E46 325i and MK8 GTI (which is awesome by the way despite me being a RWD fanatic all my life). The E46 is fully sorted but still 23 years old so it's my daily and my wife uses the GTI which is new so it's the go-to for long distance trips. Both cars have child seats and can handle child duties but we could easily do with just one car if we had to. We have a roof box for trips that require additional cargo space.

I couldn't see myself with a third car now or in the future, even if money were no object... there's just so many other family priorities that deserve our attention as well as other life spheres that are more important than yet another project car. My 2 cents..

Appreciate this insight for sure-- I agree that either way the E92 just doesn't fit in the picture. I just worry a little about having only E46 and Cayenne as the E46 is fairly harsh, I would probably want to look at coolant/AC system refresh to get where I can comfortably drive it in the summer in Texas. Working from home does really limit the uses though. Maybe should sell E92 and put a few bucks into make the M3 just a bit more comfy. I have been driving E46 quite a bit, was going to job site every day for some 4 weeks, absolute joy to drive

I guess the root of the issue is that, if I need to take the kid somewhere and my wife needs to run an errand (albeit rare that we can't do both together), the baby can't be transported in E46 and if I take Cayenne my wife can't drive E46. Also, given the sentimental value, I like having the option not to take E46 to Dallas or work job site where it might be generally more exposed. Maybe I'm crazy

[BTB]

Not for your 3rd car but re your E46 I would consider putting stock passenger seat back in. It'll expand your use case.
I have a pole position in the driver seat and stock passenger seat in mine and it has allowed me to keep all of the rear seat functionality. I frequently have rear seat passengers and you might want to take your kids + wife in the fun car sometimes too. The practicality/comfort of the E46 expands the use case of the car and allow me to use it in more situations than just point A to point A driving. Try doing that in a 911, LC500, or BRZ.

Oops, I recently sold passenger seat hah (and driver seat is on racing sim ! XD). I totally agree about practicality of the E46 though. Even with the buckets, the passenger seat scoots up enough for a smaller person to slip into the back, so I see this being useful in the future with kids. It is a forever car to me, hopefully I can prove myself right and use it when the kid(s) are bigger

[LSB4Me]

Oops, I recently sold passenger seat hah (and driver seat is on racing sim ! XD). I totally agree about practicality of the E46 though. Even with the buckets, the passenger seat scoots up enough for a smaller person to slip into the back, so I see this being useful in the future with kids. It is a forever car to me, hopefully I can prove myself right and use it when the kid(s) are bigger

Stock seats do seem like a must to enhance the use scope. Seat swaps are relatively easy, so you could quickly go back to PPs when needed.

As for the air cooled idea, the initial budget is higher (though you can still get good narrow body mid-years (74-77) for “cheap,” comparatively) but the long term cost will balance it out. Also, it will likely hold, or appreciate, in value. Unlike the Miata. In the end, stretching the initial budget might be the best car purchase you ever make.

FWIW, as long as you don’t buy a basket case, old Pcar ownership is actually cheap compared to the e46. Seems too good to be true, but I daily drove my 71 (which sat for 20 years then only required 10k to become road worthy after I rescued it) for years without issue. This is/was the rule, not the exception.

[BTB]

Stock seats do seem like a must to enhance the use scope. Seat swaps are relatively easy, so you could quickly go back to PPs when needed.

As for the air cooled idea, the initial budget is higher (though you can still get good narrow body mid-years (74-77) for “cheap,” comparatively) but the long term cost will balance it out. Also, it will likely hold, or appreciate, in value. Unlike the Miata. In the end, stretching the initial budget might be the best car purchase you ever make.

FWIW, as long as you don’t buy a basket case, old Pcar ownership is actually cheap compared to the e46. Seems too good to be true, but I daily drove my 71 (which sat for 20 years then only required 10k to become road worthy after I rescued it) for years without issue. This is/was the rule, not the exception.

I love the idea, and can see the financial benefit, but I suspect this works much better in LA than Central Texas. Can't imagine the AC system would keep up in the Austin summer without extensive upgrades. I will say a very cool car to call your daily driver 😎