Checked out a 5 speed 3.0 today

[nick325xit 5spd]

Originally Posted by crystalworks

Vehemently disagree. The E61 is one of the prettiest wagons ever made. Right behind the E39 touring. Volvo has some very attractive wagons too. E61 doesn't suffer the Bangle Butt visual problems it's sedan brethren suffers from. And the functionality can not be beat. We've loaded Christmas trees, transmissions, all kinds of stuff in ours. But that's just my opinion obviously. Beauty is supremely subjective.

The 4.6/4.8's will have their day. But it will take some more attrition to bring the numbers down as nick325xit pointed out, they made a ton of them (at least the 4.8). The same generation M cars are now having their day, so within 10 years I think we'll see values increase. Not collector car values obviously, but increases. Bottom of the depreciation market has passed IMO. If someone wants a 5spd or a 4.6/4.8 now is the time to buy.

I never really had a problem with the back end of the E6x. I can't stand the headlights or the slab sides.

It is absolutely subjective, of course! But IMO, the E53 has aged a lot better.

And while I'd like the N54 power, I don't really want to deal with N54 maintenance. (And I have no reason to get the N52 wagon.) I have enough cranky engines in my life already. ...and the thing is that I don't like the way that modern turbo engines drive. So I'd have to change the turbos to make it drive the way I want. And then we're talking about a whole other can of worms. You can see how I ended up in the E53.