[MFNATIK]

E46, e39, e38, e53

[Puuhapete]

E39 m5
e60 m5
e92 m3
f80 m3

[Bch53211]

Phones, computers, TVs, cars.... Newer = better for me. Can’t wait to order mine.

[LOW4LYF]

Originally Posted by MFNATIK

E46, e39, e38, e53

I would agree! My freaking old E38 M Sport feels like a new car. I really love to drive it.

[MFNATIK]

Originally Posted by LOW4LYF

I would agree! My freaking old E38 M Sport feels like a new car. I really love to drive it.

I had a shorty sport too! I loved the way that car drove. Just didn't like the tons of maintenance that the engine and chassis required hahah. But man, what a classic BMW design that was.

[530iDriver]

Originally Posted by MFNATIK

I had a shorty sport too! I loved the way that car drove. Just didn't like the tons of maintenance that the engine and chassis required hahah. But man, what a classic BMW design that was.

Unfortunately E-Chassis BMWs are pretty needy..

[MFNATIK]

Originally Posted by 530iDriver

Unfortunately E-Chassis BMWs are pretty needy..

Yeah, you're right. All of the highest maintenance cars were the E-series, especially the Ms.

[dgm3]

Originally Posted by The Automotive Enthusiast

I'm going to be honest, I can't tell you how happy I am to have grown up in the days of the e36. I got to experience what a raw BMW felt like. Oh, and they had the classic Hoffmeister kink. Something that people will soon forget as BMW seems to be phasing it out of their designs all together.

This morning I drove my 3 M cars successively on the same back roads, e36 M3 (euro 3.2 version), e46 M3 competition package and M2C...and guess what it is the e36 which put the biggest smile on my face. The e36 is raw, feels perfectly connected to the road, has a great steering feel, immediate & precise throttle response ...and what an engine melody.

[MUFCbmwbear]

Originally Posted by MFNATIK

Yeah, you're right. All of the highest maintenance cars were the E-series, especially the Ms.

Great things require even greater care

[See5]

Mid 90's-early 2000's was the zenith of BMW.

They could do no wrong in terms of style, image, and driving experience.

Objectively, today's cars are better but relative to their time, they aren't close to the E38/E46/E39/E53. If you read car magazines, you'd be hard pressed to find a comparison test they weren't #1 in, to the point everyone thought BMW was handing the test editors millions.

[Tacoma]

Originally Posted by EXE46

My first bimmer was an E36 way back in the day, then later two E46's in the E46fanatics heydays. My E46 days was the best, the fanatics community was great. These cars still look great to date and in fact the E46 M3 is still my favorite of them all. As for chassis the G20 is excellent, the only drawback is the steering, I still struggle with this aspect of the car.

The irony is that, people crap over the Lexus 3IS but that car has superior steering to the G20. Can't believe BMW couldn't do a better job when Toyota manages to do that. I never bought the E90, never cared for that interior layout so held unto my E46 for 11 years and 200k miles before we parted. Also, was not a fan of the F30 so I went to the competition for my driving fix.

As for the future, I am torn. BMW is heading into a scary place as do most other car makers and seems hell bent on following Mercedes. Mercedes certainly is not the answer. Most likely I may have to buy an older bimmer and keep for the long term. Yesterday, I went to the Miami BMW poker run and saw many locals with classic BMW's in excellent condition, E36/E46,E39 M cars and many more. I will not buy an electric bmw or any 4 cylinder hybrid setup ala Mercedes regardless of how impressive the performance stats maybe.

The E36 had an excellent raw feel, you're directly connected to the road that was better in this regard than any other sedan of its class. It was very driver focused, even the dashboard and center console angled so they all faced directly toward the driver.

The E46 was a bit less so of everything that was the E36 but still the connection to the road was excellent. In fact, when I got my F80 I still had an E46 for a few months and when I drove it back-to-back, the F80 was hugely more luxurious and intensely faster, a much better car. But the E46 being smaller, lighter, and less sound insulation, had more road feel and better connection to the road.

Ideally, if the G80 was a combo of the driving feel, light weight and road connection of the E46 with the performance, luxury and technologies of the F80 - and no pig snout grille - that would be perfect. But that's not reality.

So I think it comes down to this: if smaller, lightweight cars with excellent road feel are your cup of tea, then the best days were the E36/46 era; if luxury, performance and HP are your wheelhouse, then the best days are now.

[SunnyD]

Best days were when they had high revving NA engines.

[FSHNGRY]

Originally Posted by jstein55

Could not have said it better myself.

This.

[LSM]

E46 m3/E39 m5 would be my vote - that early 2000's era.

[Puuhapete]

E46 is overrated imho. Yes it felt sharp and quite light but it did not feel fast. I have driven all M3 generations apart from E36 numerous times. The first M3 that felt properly fast was the E92. The S65 was worlds more thrilling as an engine as the metallic sounding S54, more power, better throttle response, higher revving etc...
The E92 won all 8 comparisons in its history in Car & Driver...nuff said.

[F32Fleet]

IMO this topic is only relevant when comparing BMW to the competition at any point in time.

By that metric I would say their heyday was 1998-2005.

[-EndOfAnEra-]

In response to Sedan_Clan 's comments and others though, I am genuinely curious when "same sausage/different lengths" became a bad thing. It is generally accepted that the three most beautiful BMW designs were the E46, E39 and E38:





While I understand there are many who want the status associated with a particular brand image, be it sport or luxury or style, to me that's one of the beautiful things about these three that only the driver can appreciate. They are classically beautiful and everyone beholding them can appreciate their designs as works of art or if that's too pretentious, symbols of elegance.

The driver knows for sure by the interior and the drive which car they have. No one else needs to appreciate that more than they do. It's that combination of competence and subtlety that earned BMW its reputation in both sport and luxury.

Ultimately, I wish we could have the all the modern advancements with the classic styling. Oh wait, maybe we can?

[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by -EndOfAnEra-

In response to Sedan_Clan 's comments and others though, I am genuinely curious when "same sausage/different lengths" became a bad thing. It is generally accepted that the three most beautiful BMW designs were the E46, E39 and E38:

While I understand there are many who want the status associated with a particular brand image, be it sport or luxury or style, to me that's one of the beautiful things about these three that only the driver can appreciate. They are classically beautiful and everyone beholding them can appreciate their designs as works of art or if that's too pretentious, symbols of elegance.

The driver knows for sure by the interior and the drive which car they have. No one else needs to appreciate that more than they do. It's that combination of competence and subtlety that earned BMW its reputation in both sport and luxury.

Ultimately, I wish we could have the all the modern advancements with the classic styling. Oh wait, maybe we can?

It was a criticism BMW was subjected to since the mid/late 90's.

[solstice]

Looking at the generally still handsome E46, you know what the only eye sore is through today’s looking glass? The tiny little kidneys...funny isn’t it



It’s main beauty lies in the extremely tidy packaging. To fit an in-line six under that short low hood, yummy.

[530iDriver]

Originally Posted by jstein55

The words eye sore and E46 simply should never be paired together.

Perhaps, but the E46 just looks what it actually is: A 20 year old BMW.

[Sedan_Clan]

I actually think we're in the best days now. Having owned BMW's for the last 20 years (...multiple E46/E9X/F8X M3/4's, regular E46/E9X/F3X 3-Series cars, E70 and F15 X5's, 1-Series, etc.) and having experienced many others that I didn't personally own, I feel like the cars are only getting better. I appreciate the evolution. I wouldn't go back to any of the older cars.

[solstice]

Originally Posted by Sedan_Clan

I actually think we're in the best days now. Having owned BMW's for the last 20 years (...multiple E46/E9X/F8X M3's, regular E46/E9X/F3X 3 Series cars, E70 and F15 X5's, 1-Series, etc.) and having experienced many others that I didn't personally own, I feel like the cars are only getting better.

And I suspect many would agree with you if given the option to replace their F8X competition with a newly produced E46 or E30 with full factory warranty etc. How many would actually go for it? Not many is my guess...