e30 for a daily driver is nice - a lot of E30s end up being race or track cars as the car's platform was ultimately the "BMW essence" that made the brand what it is now...

every age has its beauty and in your case you skipped a beat or two by moving into a "middle-aged refuse-to-be-soccer-mom/dad-van-driver" category... by the time we, the old folks, are ready to buy an X, we alreadfy have built up the infrastructure to support gas-thirsty car - have you seen middle-aged guys buying a Corvette? thank God for Viagra, the corvette sales went a bit down in the last 10 years!!!! hahaha... you are too young to consider those remedies yet... at least i hope so...

That is why the BMW has 3-series (and now 1-series), the MB has the C-class and the Audi - the A4...

I have a 4.8iS as my daily driver, and that thing is NOT easy on gas by any stretch of imagination... And even though I can support the gas bill, I still b!tch about it... nevertheless, I am not moving my a$$ into a Prius...

short of buying a Kia Spectra, if you care to stay in the BMW family, you should consider a 318is in E36 body, or your choice of E30... just remember, the E36 version will just keep you in a BMW, will not give you much factory performance unless you modify the engine bay and the suspension (or buy already modifyed car)

and, as you age, do what my greatgrandfather did when he was 60 - marry a 20-year old!!! lol... when he was asked, what he would do in 10 years when he would have turned 70 and she will be 30, he said that than he would divorce her and get himself another 20 year old!!!

I mean, apply that to the cars!!!!