MT vs AT option
 

I was planning on buying the wife an E53 to replace her E36. I am now toying with dropping my ZHP and buying a E53is. We both drive manuals and wish to keep it that way.

Is Wikipedia accurate in saying that the only 3.0 E53's can with the manual tranny option?

A 50% reduction in torque to get the 3rd pedal was not worth it to me.

Wiki is correct in this instance- no v8 manual option for the E53. Have you looked at the manual E83 X3 at all? When i was looking for mine, I seemed to find more manual X3s (all 6 speed, the 5spd was never put into the X3) avail than manual X5s... X3s get a little better fuel economy and we're avail until 2010 so could even still find one under CPO warranty. Good luck!

My wife insisted on a manual as well, but didn't like my E53 so we sold it. We bought a new 2007 E83 X3. 6 MT, more hp than the 3.0 that came in the E53, and with a thousand pounds less curb weight to carry around, the same power to weight ratio as the 4.4, with better handling. You gain luggage space over the E53, and give up some towing capacity and some things like dual zone climate control. I like driving it more than the E53, as. It is more agile, less of a cruiser.

Yes you're correct, only 3.0 in mt. Our wife will LoVE an e83 manual though, there are some LCI e83's out there with a stick and they are absolutely wonderful cars as well.

However, my vin diesel days are over so I picked the driving satisfaction of driver engagement with 3 pedals over the power increase with a v8.

When I want more torque and less driver engagement, I'll trade up for an LCI E70 diesel and get the torque I'm "lacking" and get 26 mpg doing it.

[QUOTE=Ricky Bobby;974868]Yes you're correct, only 3.0 in mt. Our wife will LoVE an e83 manual though, there are some LCI e83's out there with a stick and they are absolutely wonderful cars as well.
QUOTE]

'Our wife'?? Do you live in one of the those hippy communes ('can I borrow your wife Dave') where wife sharing is commonplace, or have you just let us all in on what happens at weekends? :yikes:

God damn auto correct on iPhone!!!!!

And yes apparently I live in Joseph smiths home town lol

No, I do. ;) Just Kidding.

Before this turns into a drop your keys in the fish bowl/wife swap thread permanently,:rofl: I can speak of owning both manual versions of the e83 X3 and e53 X5. I would test drive em both and go with what you like. The X3 is more car like in handling and gearing. Get the 3.0. It has plenty of zip.

I love them both, but I really love my E53. If you lean toward an E53, Id try to find an '04-06 with the six speed. Honestly, it comes down to what you like and preferences. You can't go wrong. We've been happy with both of them.

Published numbers on curb weight are less than accurate. I doubt there is a thousand pound difference, but I could be wrong.My last X5 wieghed in at 4,480 lbs, published curb was 4,6xx lbs. Published curb weight for the wife's '04 X3 was 4000 lbs., but haven't had a chance to weigh it. Perhaps JCL's LCI X3 had some weight measures done.:dunno: