I ran into an interesting situation with my dealership a couple of weeks ago. They mistakenly sold me a previously wrecked M Coupe and now they are willing to replace my car with another one. Not totally for free mind you... if it costs more I will pay for the extra cost at the higher value. They will give me another car at wholesale cost because of the mistake. I was thinking that it will be very hard for them to find another M Coupe from another dealership. I was also thinking that I may want to try switching to an E46 M3 or E39 M5 because we need more room for kids... and we will always be a performance car family.

When testing the M3, it didn't have the feedback or power that I was expecting. A 540i was on the lot and I actually enjoyed that car quite a bit more to my suprise. I realize that an M5 will fit the bill in the power department and that it's handling will be better... but will it satisfy me as much as my M Coupe? I don't entirely know and I've yet to come across one for sale to test out.

So, does anybody have experience with between the three cars and do you have any input that may sway me towards buying an M5?

You can not compare M Coupe, the clown shoe of doom with M5 the ultimate luxury mutiplied by neck twisting performance. I personally would pick M Coupe if I did not have 2 kids. How badly was wrecked your M Coupe? Those are rare and fun.

The hit was evidentally small. There was an impact to the left rear and it caused a separation to the already weak subframe area of the car. (a known weak point) It looks as though the previous owner payed out of pocket to have somebody do a half ass attempt at welding things back in place but, water can now enter the rear trunk area underneath all of the interior panels and sound deadening material and thus some rust has accumulated.

I found it when I was about to do a total suspension upgrade. Because the previous owner payed somebody to do the work, it didn't show up on a Carfax report. The dealership didn't do a proper inspection and therefore it slipped between the cracks.

That's the silver one in your sig? All I can say is I have to commend your dealership for doing the right thing.

Screw that, return the bastard. With that knowledge your dealership now has to sell it at the auction the the frame damage warning. I thought it was something minor, like hood replacement but to some hood related intercourse, or something similar:) 540i, or M5 are definitely a major comfort upgrade in your case.

Comfort upgrade yes... but will a M5 handle as well as an M3 at a track day? I'm sure that it will use up rear tires faster than an M3 or my M Coupe... that's a good thing in my book.:D However, will I be taking a large step back in handling if I switch? I guess that's what I'm getting at.

There is another forum member that goes through cars like a fish drinks water. He went through about 3 different M Roadsters and M Coupes and then (because of his large size) he bought an E46 M3. He was totally dissapointed and thought that the M3 was boring and to mundane in comparison.

Now myself, I know that a switch to a M5 will come with it's different charachteristics that accompany it's obvious size difference. However, M5 owners have a similar cult following that us M Coupe/Roady owners have. So, what is it about the M5 that gives it it's great following.

I'm a helicopter pilot. Before you fly helicopters, you fly turboprop aircraft. Both have their cool areas. I won't go into depth with a comparison but basically I appreciate their different attributes and I understand that I can't have the absolute best of both worlds. I made the transition from the one to the other and I am happy with what I am flying now.... I just can't do aerobatics now without dying... no biggie. :D

Basically, I understand that I wouldn't be able to compete in autocross events against cars such as 911's as well if I go the M5 route, but I think that I will enjoy the M5 more in more of a real world kind of sense. I "officially" don't condone racing against other performance cars that I encounter on the road, but I sure enjoy beating them. That's why a car such as the M5 is appealing to me. (But can I enjoy myself on some mountain roads or track days, or will I find that other cars will leave a hefty M5?) I'm competitive by fault.

That's the silver one in your sig? All I can say is I have to commend your dealership for doing the right thing.

Yeah, that's my baby. It wears much better rubber now, Yokohama Advan Neova AD-07's and it's suspension upgrade is sitting my garage. The only thing that sucks is that my WRX is faster than the M Coupe. I was planning a Technique Tuning stage 1 upgrade to fix that. The WRX was going to be the mommy mobile when the kid comes.

As for the dealership... I think that they may be covering their butt a little bit on this one but I still appreciate their gesture very much. They sold me a CPO'd car under false pretenses. That kind of sucks for me. I learned my lesson and I have picked up a few pointers about buying used vehicles because of this purchase, which is a good thing.

OH, it was CPO'd! Then fukk them. Report their asses to BMWNA as they did not do the proper CPO inspection. Here's the CPO inspection standards.

http://www.bmwusa.com/NR/rdonlyres/643287B8-88E6-4622-B82D-5C4DF760BD12/0/cpocklst.pdf

Yeah... they missed a spot on their inspection.

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a213/ch53usmc/DSC00344.jpg

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a213/ch53usmc/subframe.jpg

m5 so many reasons why. its not going to handle like the m3 but its so much more car. it will please you on the mountain roads and on the way to work. it will perform at the track but not as well as the m3 or m coupe. still i would take the m5 hands down.

I think you will be pleasantly suprised if you had an M5 vs. and M3 on the track. Although the M3 is insane, the 5 has gobs of power and I think you would notice on the straights.

I would go M5 all the way, but then again I would still give a testes for an M3.