Looking for something special E39 alternatives

My wife and I started the Dave Ramsey plan about 2 years ago. We are debt free, and currently saving up our emergency fund etc. I have been driving a 2000 Jetta TDI and for a commuter its pretty awesome getting 43mpg doing 80 on the highway. But the car just doesn't feel "special" or "nice"

It's very basic and has roll up windows etc, I did that to avoid some reliability issues. We might have kid number 2 on the way and the jetta even will have issues with 2 car seats so I am looking to replace it with something with a slightly larger back seat (1 rear facing 1 forward)

I've always loved the E39 and think its styling is amazing even today and while having not driven one I think they look like they have a nice interior that would feel more luxurious. However I am disappointed by what I see for MPG numbers even on the 6 cylinder models

Anyone have any ideas? Someday I'd love one with a LS swap maybe even a wagon

60mile commute daily, rear seat infant friendly, older car is fine if reliability/safety are not issues, I prefer older and more special/nice than newer for the sake of newer. Must be a manual trans. Like all good enthusiasts I would love RWD/AWD but its not a deal breaker. MPG needs to not break the bank on the commute. Looking to spend less than 20k max, less than 15k ideally.

I have always been attracted to the e39. A buddy of mine recently bought one with the six. Honestly I was dissapointed with the driving dynamics. I found the steering to be very heavy and slow without much feedback. Could just be his example but it kind of turned me off of them.

Interesting contradictions in your posting...

Dave Ramsey Plan:
A couple of years into it and still saving emergency fund.
Slow progress.
I commend you for trying and yes, it can be a long road but stay with it.

Looking to spend less than $20K
This sounds like there will be debt taken on. Not really the textbook method of ole Dave there.

I think the answers are:
1) sell the Jetta and re-spend the dollars gotten from the Jetta on a different car. Little to no additional cash outlay.
What is the TDI worth? Is it paid off or how much do you still owe?

2) keep the Jetta. If the maintenance needs are not killing you then the Jetta should be cheaper to operate than most cars considering your commute.

Is there a second car in the family for the wife or is the Jetta the sole transportation?
It may be cheaper to buy a second car (for cash) that is big enough for all the kids seats to use on those occasions that the whole family is in the car together but keep the Jetta for the daily commute.

If you have a loan or have to get a loan for the new car, skip it and stick to the Jetta. Nothing feels more special than not sending out $500/month on a car.

Yeah, I hate to pile on here, but if you're still saving for your emergency fund...........why are you looking at:

1. Spending 15-20k on a vehicle.
2. Buying a vehicle that will likely DOUBLE the amount of gas you purchase.

I'd look at a new or 1 year old Hyuandai or Kia.

They hold their values well so you don't take too big of a hit on depreciation. If you hold it 10 years or so, buying new can be justified. W/ the warranty, you can spend time with the kids instead of wrenching or paying someone to wrench on the car when you don't have time. And if you do want to wrench on something, buy a $1k Miata and play at your pace.

I like the e39 also but I'd hate to own one and maintain one.

Not trying to pile on further either but you are trying to sell something to yourself if one of your reasons is size - 2 kid seats fit in a Jetta just fine.

That said - e39s are nice - but I wouldn't go as far as to say they are "special" unless you get a 540 or M5. Either will rape you at the pump, the shop and the tire store. The 530 (straight six) is cheap to buy, better on fuel and bullet proof. It is also just as pretty. Pretty boring.

If you are living the Dave Ramsey plant, forget ditching the Jetta.

That's just my opinion.

As a six cylinder E39 (2001 525i sport package, 5-speed) owner, let me just mention a couple things:

• Depending on your driving style, fuel efficiency can be decent. I have found 25mpg in mixed driving relatively easy to achieve consistently, and in pure highway driving 30mpg is normal. I just drove 170 miles, all highway, ~70mph, cruise on, A/C on, two people plus luggage, through hilly terrain, and averaged 31.3mpg.

• You can buy a good E39 for a lot less than 15k these days. Get one from an enthusiast who has actually maintained it and you'll save yourself a lot of time and money.

Having owned an e39 M5, I would love a Jetta TDI. GPS has it pretty spot on regarding the cost of running the M5. Perhaps the best sports sedan ever but it sucks $$$ at a rate I've not seen before.

Rear facing, I was only able to fit a car seat in the middle in the Jetta, otherwise it severely hampers the ability for a passenger. I am 6' and cannot ride comfortably in the car if the car seat is behind there rear facing.

Dave Ramsey wise, you have to make it work for you. What Dave says is a good plan but everyone is going to be a little bit different. We are debt free and will have our emergency fund in less than a year. Living in So-cal some of our costs are more extreme than other parts of the country. I think we have made great progress. We paid off over 65k in debt while having a kid with both my wife and I working in less than 3 years. (which means when the kid came we incurred an extra 1000 dollars a month in expenses for daycare). We would have been way past step 3 if we had not had my daughter but the blessing of my little girl goes far beyond the impeded progress.

I am not looking on purchasing tomorrow. In addition my company is doing well and I will be receiving some money for some stock options in a buy back program (its a private company so this is done to give some liquid value while waiting for the eventual IPO or Buyout etc)

Don't get me wrong there is NO better gas miser car than a Jetta TDI. Cost me 6k and has given me 40k miles of 43mpg goodness so far. In fact I really wish it was possibly to get the Mercedes E320 CDI with a manual. As I just want a slightly larger car with a nicer interior and really am a fan of diesel

What I really want to do is have a second car (third for the family) that can fill my needs for something more fun or more "special"

I have a street bike I would likely be selling as well before moving on from the Jetta. Just a little sketched out by the bike these days

And yes I hate car payments. I am not a lease/finance guy

The answer to your question is a $1000 beater of your choice.

I'm also ancar nut that suffered through driving boring cars while snowballing my way out of debt, but man was it worth it.

Also I can say I appreciate your frankness in the responses. I didn't expect to find people who were also familiar with Dave's plan. I wish there was something like a 335D with a manual, or something almost like my jetta just slightly larger. (b5 passat is but they are pretty rare and even older than my jetta)

For clarification, the Dave Steps are:
1. $1k emergency fund
2. Pay off debt - snowball
3. Have savings of 6 months living expense
4. Invest 15% of income
5. Save for kid college
6. Pay off house
7. Build wealth and give.

Based on your use of the word emergancy, I thought in two years you still had not gotten past step 1. Your comment of no debt and $65k payback shows that you really are at step 3.
You have my greatest respect for your achievement!
But, stay the course.

You mention 2 cars in the family (possible 3rd desired); what is the wife driving now?
How likely is it that you will have the whole family in the tdi?
Is the tdi paid off?

I'd suggest an E36 328i if you really want a BMW sedan commuter/beater, maybe an E46. I've had a rear facing car seat in the back middle of my 1995 Saturn SC2 with a forward facing one next to it. Were they easy to use? No. They fit better in my E36 325i. Maybe people just need to look at different car seats?

Maybe a 1993-1996 E34 525i.

Wife's car is an 05 toyota matrix with about 135k on it paid for My car is a 2000 Jetta TDI with 165k on it also paid for Sportbike is a 2002 Aprilia Futura 24k miles also paid for We have about 10k in an emergency fund (actually 2 we kept the 1000 in our savings connected to checking and opened a second one just for the 3-6 months) but we are shooting for 15-20k before going back to up our retirement investment/save for college/house downpayment etc (we already are doing some to take advantage of matching)

Wife telecommutes, usually takes the kid to daycare and picks her up. Sometimes however I have to take kid or pick them up so we need to have the possibility of 2 car seats in both cars.

Right now its fine as we have just my daughter and I keep a car seat for her in the car

Not really set on a BMW, more looking for something a little larger than the jetta with a little nicer set of creature comforts with a manual and at least decent mileage. The E36 interior never struck me as "nice", I still want to own one someday and swap it. But thats not what I am looking for right now. I'd love an 04/05 CTS-V but thats on the high side of affordability and I still question the mileage even though some people can pull high 20s on the highway

Daycare expenses, so you both work. Do you need to be able to carry all of the kids in both cars all of the time? That is, will both of you be doing the pick up/drop off thing? If not then life always seems to be better with one 'fun' car and one family car. We did it for 5 years with a crew cab truck and an Audi TT. I have four kids, so if there were two or fewer kids for whatever the driving task was, the TT was driven. If there were 3 or more, the truck was driven. Yes, we had to move car seats quite a lot, but driving the TT made all worth it. If you have a car that's only rarely used to haul kids, or rarely all of them, then it just has to work, not work well. A lot of cars fit into this category.
I will also recommend looking at the newer $20Kish hatches. The rear seat room in them is much more than it was a decade ago, certainly more than in your Jetta. I can fit three booster seats across the back of the Mazda2. Not that I'm suggesting the 2, but there are a lot of small cars out there that use space very efficiently, get great mileage, have all of the modern safety features you could want for hauling kids, and still are around your $20K price target. Ultimately you're buying a car to make you happy, so make sure that it does that, otherwise you're just wasting money.

Here's an off the wall thought. Since you have the TDI already, buy a cheap commuter and then use the TDI to build one of the new Smyth G3F cars.

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3850096/2011-smyth-g3f

Yes, but if I read you correctly, it will be likely to have 2 kids in the tdi but kind of unlikely to have 2 adults and 2 kids in the tdi?

Will the 2 kids and 2 adults fit in the Matrix?
If yes, then the still very good mpg Martix will be the car of choice when the whole family travels.

The tdi could handle commuting work and the occasional daycare pick-up.
Is it possible in the tdi to get the 2 car seats in the back if the passenger front seat is moved forward, even if that forward-ness means that no one can really sit in that front seat?

Strangely enough, my recommendation when first reading here was going to be a Martix w/ manual. Not quite BMW, but a good combo of fun and family responsibility while getting good commuting mpg.
Is the Matrix a manual?
Could be that the tdi gets sold and a cash equivalent of a larger car is found for the wife. You then commute in the Matrix.

Buy a used Ford Taurus.

They are reliable, parts are cheap and they can hold two car seats with no problem.

Yeah sadly the Matrix is a slushbox. It does fit 2 childseats and 2 grownups. It gets a little tight on trips with all the baby stuff but it works. I was watching the Smyth G3F build for a while.

Most of the time I do not need to fit 2 car seats and 2 adults, so moving the seat forward can work

I used to have a Ford Focus SVT that I took to the track and loved that car. A mini cooper S would be a very me car to have but I don't think even a clubman would fit the car seats when needed

The other option is of course try to get the Jetta to be something I love more. A chip and injectors is supposed to do magical things.

How about this

http://bringatrailer.com/2010/12/04/ls1-powered-1992-bmw-525it-wagon/

:)

Hey, it sounds like you're doing better than I thought. If you've got the money and it doesn't hurt your emergency fund and you want the car, why not give the E39 a shot.

I got to that point and realized I was so used to driving cheap cars that I've just left the car cash in the bank. It's kind of fun to look at it and shop for nicer cars on Craigslist but then I think about whether commuting in the more expensive car would actually bring me that much more pleasure. So far the answer has been no. So instead I'm racing more. :-)

Will you have 2 rear facing seats at once? It takes a special kind of crazy to have kids that close together (ask me how I know)
Generally I think using kids as a justification to buy a car (or a house) is a lousy way to go. Kids have very simple needs and quite small space requirements. You're better off in the long run buying what you really want and pressing that into service when need be. You'll be happier with the car, and as you're finding out, that's the biggest decider on whether you keep a car or not. If it was just utility, we'd all be driving mini vans and be perfectly happy with them.

FYI - I took our E39 M5 to Denver this weekend. According to the trip computer, we averaged 25.2 mpg running at 75-80 mph over the mountain passes. It's currently showing a 20 mpg average overall including my commute. Consider this a data point.

I sometimes take the M5 to work, sometimes the turbo Miata. Depends on whether I want to feel like an adult or not

My daughter is now forward facing so no on the 2 rear facing at once, unless I end up needing three car seats (let's hope no on twins)

The kids are not a justification just a variable. I've driven my initial "dave car" for 4 years and paid my debts etc etc. I just want to kind of upgrade for myself. My wife is not very understanding of why you would want a car just for the track, and for some reasons she thinks it would be much more expensive than the motorcycle. These are bias's I have given up on figuring out and just accept as being another one of the mysteries of understanding her. Not complaining at all mind you she is very accepting this is just one of the areas its harder to sell her on as it represents major purchase to her. If I got anything 4door she is going to feel more like I am being responsible even if it was an M5 or CTS-V vs a 3rd car miata