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racingbmwm3 · #11 06-24-2013, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by epdarks

Calculate the break-even point on a daily driver.

Let's say you drive 10,000 miles per year. Gas costs $4/gallon. The X5 we will say gets 18 MPG on average. Annual fuel expense: $2,222

Now let's try an E30. Same numbers, but 28 MPG. $1428/year.

Savings of ~$800.

Cost of E30 = $4k. Insurance, tabs, maintnence, misc = $1-2k per year.

So in theory you are looking at 5 years before you really "break even" on your gas expense. Year 6 you can finally "save money" with your E30.

There are other advantages to a daily driver. Less wear on the X5, more fun to daily an E30, etc.

I'd much rather have an E30 over an E36. E36 has good performance, but doesn't feel like it has the build quality the E30 did.
My commute is 45 miles one way, and I did the same math as above when trying to decide on my commuter. I started with an E30 325e (32mpg), lots of torque and very fun to drive. I then wanted a 40+mpg car and narrowed it down to either a Civic or VW Tdi; with a price cap of about $2000 that I chose to allow a ROI of 18months or less. Chose the diesel Jetta, averaged around 46mpg for the year I drove it and it paid for itself in less than a year. After owning/driving BMW's for 15+ years it was difficult for me driving the Jetta everday, so I decided I'd rather spend 2 hours/day in something that handled/braked/accelerated/more comfortable than the beater VW. I ended up buying a Mini this winter, and the only time I don't feel like I'm in a BMW now is when I try to power out of a corner (I still miss rear wheel drive), but 37MPG and 'BMW'ness have made my commute so much nicer.

You need to determine what your budget is and what kind of daily driving you do to figure out what car you should get, if you should get one. If you want something super reliable that you don't want to do any work on, look at Toyota pickups.

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