I need (want?) a new DD. Requirements are room for baby seats in the back, AWD and POWAH!

audi allroad?

You mean the car I already own?

It's old and is getting up in mileage. Time to find a replacement for it.

May check out the '15 STI and a '13 Mk6 Golf R APR Stage 2+ this weekend...

In reply to docwyte:

Did you notice that the STI still uses the EJ series motor? Not a bad thing as all the issues are known and fixable. I guess MPGs aren't that important since you have been driving an Allroad.

Yep, I did. Been cruising the Suby forums and unfortunately the EJ is still blowing up. Lots of people blowing up the motors on their new cars with them bone stock. That doesn't make me happy.

I drove a bunch of cars this weekend. I drove a '08 E90 M3 sedan (36k miles on it!) which was very nice, but was missing heated seats and a fold down rear seat. Drove a '10 S4, (nice, but isolating and poor steering feel), a '08 Cayenne Turbo,(fast, but still a truck and it was getting 12mpg!) and a '13 Golf R APR 2+ (shockingly quick great tech stuff)

The M3 appeals to me because of the low mileage, but the lack of fold down rear seats and heated front seats annoys me. The Golf R was the most fun, but it didn't have a sunroof or Nav, plus it didn't pass the Wife test. She took one look at it and didn't like it.

May check out an M235i if the dealer has one after work today...

Get a used 996 tt - we used to stuff my son in the back and take cross country road trips.

Why not just a regular WRX with the new FA architecture?

In reply to Matt B:

I am guessing because there is no hatch for the wrx anymore.

Would a Passat 3.6 4Motion wagon do the trick?: http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?zip=19446&endYear=2015&vehicleStyleCodes=WAGON&modelCode1=PASS&showcaseOwnerId=75280&startYear=1981&makeCode1=VOLKS&searchRadius=0&showcaseListingId=369365794&mmt=%5BVOLKS%5BPASS%5B%5D%5D%5B%5D%5D&listingId=369044206&Log=0

I've been thinking about the 996TT, but it's just too close to my 951/LSx car. What I mean is they're both close in nature, the 996 won't touch the 951/LSx in track ability, yet on the street it's not that utilitarian.

The Passat wagon isn't a bad choice but I know I'll get bored with it due to the relatively low power compared to what I'm used to.

Narrowing it down at all? I'm looking at some similar cars. Drove a new Evo MR the other day, which was more comfortable than I expected but also thus not as fast and raw feeling as I had hoped. I don't think I could buy one used, so that would be like $40k plus a few grand for a trans cooler and some basic mods to wake it up.

A buddy has planted the E90 M3 seed in my ear, which I could enjoy stock and again get a flappy paddle box so my wife could drive it and I don't go crazy in traffic. Used BMW scares me, but they seem pretty reliable other than the rod bearing issue and in reality I bet a used M3 will cost me less than a new Evo over several years and maybe 30-50k miles. And it's faster and sounds amazing and not a Mitsubishi inside.

M235 seems like a nice small package, but my simple build was $46k and that's still with an open diff. I think I'd rather wait for the M2. M cars really aren't a bad deal compared to an optioned/modded equivalent, especially considering that requires you to somewhat extensively modify a pretty new car. And in the end the M cars have that extra bit of "specialness". And an intact warranty.

I wish I had been in a position to buy when Evo VIII/IX were rolling off the lines. At this point I think they're best as track cars and I'd feel bad driving one year round here (Milwaukee) and rusting a pretty rare car.

How about a fly and drive to FL for a Forester XT?:

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?zip=19446&endYear=2015&modelCode1=FOREST&showcaseOwnerId=65295371&startYear=1981&makeCode1=SUB&transmissionCode=MAN&transmissionCodes=MAN&searchRadius=0&maxPrice=12000&mmt=%5BSUB%5BFOREST%5B%5D%5D%5B%5D%5D&listingId=379931685&Log=0

I drove the E90 M3 and liked it quite a bit. It suffers performance wise due to altitude where I live much more than the Turbo cars. To my knowledge the rod bearing issue was the previous E46 generation.

I'm trying to convince the guy with the 535xit 6MT M pkg car to sell it to me.

Otherwise I drove an RS4 yesterday and I liked it more than the M3, but they're holding their values better than the M3 is. I can get a perfect, mint M3 with 23k miles on it for the same price as an RS4 with 65k miles on it.

Of course the RS4 is an all weather car which is important for me here in Colorado...

Rod bearings are an issue on the S65 and the S85 (E90/92 M3 and E60 M5 with the V10).

Do you run snow tires? I would say the easiest winter of driving I've experienced was in an E36 M3 with snows. This is in flat midwestern cities where inclines are rare and generally, plowing happens quickly. AWD could be more of an asset by you.

Acura TL-SH? AWD, and 6 spd manual, but 'only' a normally aspirated 3.7L, 307hp V-6. And a very small window of beautiful front end styling.

I do run snow tires. The M3 would be fine in town as long as there's not a big storm, but isn't a car I'd take up skiing even with the snow tires.

So is BMW taking care of these rod bearing failures outside of warranty? Is there a particular year range of cars that are affected?

Ford Fusion Titanium AWD?

So I decided to go with this. 2008 BMW M3 Sedan with only 23k miles on it, that was CPO'd until just last month. Pretty much every factory option, plus tint/clear bra and a few nice cosmetic mods. I'll throw a set of Blizzaks on it for the winter and might get a cheap SUV/Ski/Tow rig in December.

[URL=http://s20.photobucket.com/user/docwyte/media/NewM31_zps2d437c97.jpg.html][/URL]

So I decided to go with this. 2008 BMW M3 Sedan with only 23k miles on it, that was CPO'd until just last month. Pretty much every factory option, plus tint/clear bra and a few nice cosmetic mods. I'll throw a set of Blizzaks on it for the winter and might get a cheap SUV/Ski/Tow rig in December. [/URL]

Awesome! Manual or DCT?

3 pedals, of course!

While I would much rather prefer to have what you chose, I'm disappointed to see that nobody suggested an LT-1 swapped AWD Astro.