Thanks for the reply! I hadn't even thought of older Mercedes, but that certainly looks interesting... I'll have to do some homework on that one. I've seen a couple of the E30 M3's for sale locally, and while they're not quite at the $20k mark for the lower mileage, they certainly seem to have acquired a "Hipster Tax"

 

That Mercedes is overpriced for what it has... automatic transmission.

To be fair, those Mercedes are really nice to have. I know people who have them and they're a step above the normal 190e you see in the ghetto. The performance is nothing to scoff at either ( I'll admit that a modern Camry could probably beat it in a straight line), but the handling... it has amazing handling, and for a 25 year old car, that's awesome. in fact, I would go as far to compare it to a Mini Cooper in terms of handling. Upgrade the shocks and the springs to a 420E and a stiffer swaybar and you have a car that's track worthy.

The cons? 16v specific parts are expensive (that's if you can even find them in the first place), the CIS is a nightmare to work on. You can upgrade to EFI with some work, but you need to plan months in advance. Smogging the car can be a pain in the ***, especially if you live in CA or states that adopt CA smogging policies. The 16v was a de-tuned race car, not a fast car tuned for city driving...and as such, you need to jump through a lot of hoops to make it street legal.

Now, is it worth it? To me, it is, because I've loved the 16v since I was a kid, and I will get one the moment it becomes street legal without smogging (California's rolling 35-year smogging). To others, it may not be worth it because trust me, you'll be spending a lot of time on the car... and I do mean a lot.

But on the other hand, if it's been well taken care, it'll be damn reliable...just like our Mini Cooper. :p

 

The first car I ever modified was a 2001 Pontiac Grand Prix. They're easy to work on, and 300 crank HP isn't hard to achieve on the GTP models (supercharged 3800 V6). Mine was quite reliable. The issue is... it's GM. Interior's crap. Car will rust. There WILL be quality issues. And the styling on the 2004+ sucks. And good luck finding one that has been taken care of...

 

No offense but **** e30s. It is all about the 5er. That is just me though.

 

the interior? well.... let's just say you can tell its an early 2000's american car. but with a different steering wheel and maybe a touchscreen it wouldn't be so bad. I shouldn't say its bad... because its not. but it isn't the most pleasant.
A friend of mine has a is300 thats a stick. he looked for over a year for it and he LOVES it now that he has it. it's an all around great car for sure.

 

So what's the new list now?

 

Well, I haven't had a chance to drive the Lexus yet... although I have seen some IS300's around town lately that look pretty nice.

I've decided to take a bit of a half-step to hold me over, and I'm going to get in touch with RMW about getting a remote tune for the R50. My expectations are reasonable, I'm told ~10-12HP/TQ gain which might be just enough extra juice to keep me away from car lots for a little while.

I'm actually entertaining the idea of just getting an R53 and running softer suspension.