From personal experience -- Jetta Sportwagen isn't a bad choice. It is probably a little smaller interior-wise then the BMW. Ours (2010) with the TDI has been trouble free for over 40k miles.
Also from the personal experience files -- Subaru Outback wagon would be a good choice. They have gotten larger it seems with each model year...I think they are close in size to the BMW. Ours was a 2001 an was largely trouble free for over 100k miles......recalls for head gasket and fuel rail problems notwithstanding.
Teh E36 M3 wrote:
motomoron wrote:
This one is best.
Mine is an '01 manual, sport/lowered suspension and cold weather packages, the small (non-leaky) sunroof, 3-knob cable HVAC controls. Previous owner did the M5 front and M-technic touring rear bumpers.
It gets 32 mpg on long highway trips, and is plenty fast enough for anyone who also owns a race car. I think it's the perfect regular car to leave stock. (confession - when it needed a clutch I wanted to get rid of the dual-mass flywheel/self adjusting pressure plate/clutch delay valve so I went aftermarket w/ a Clutchmasters setup. Once I install an 850i clutch slave to lower pedal effort back to stock levels it'll work better than original)
But good luck finding one. The only manual e39 iTs were '99-'00 528iT and '01-'03 525iT.
I know that '01 there were about 190 manual 525iTs imported to the US.
Allegedly with the euro tow hitch, those can drag 4k lbs.
5k. I imported a Euro hitch for our 540it, will have to find a photo. Tongue weight is only 200 lbs though, which limits most US trailers. We towed a 2000 lb 1966 Shasta Compact with it and it handled great.
But if I had to do it again, I'd get a 525it, either stick or auto. There were a few late 2000 528it with the 5-speed auto, don't get a 4-speed auto 528it, the trans kills the fun.
We also had an e34 525it that I swapped to a manual, and it was also fun and more reliable than the e39. But the e39 interior is noticably bigger and nicer to spend time in.
My second choice after a 525it would be a Subaru Legacy GT wagon.
Have fun! Loves me a wagon...
My friend just got an e39 touring a month ago and loves everything but the crappy gm transmission. Good to know that the 525 got a bmw unit.
I'm basically going through a similar search with my limit at $8k and it's frustrating. Basically I don't trust the European brands to not burn through copious amounts of money each year (although I am something of a BMW fanboi). Other than Subaru, the Japanese and American's mainly seem to have abandoned the market in favor of SUVs. Well after 20 years of SUVs, Vans and trucks, I want something sporty with more than sedan levels of cargo capacity as my DD. There's a lovely Mazda6 wagon near me, but it's a manual and I need an auto. They seem to be quite rare and are getting older.
What am I missing?
They never made what you want.
