s3dgley

Bit of ramble first.

I'm about to become a father within the next seven weeks and plan on keeping our S curled up in the garage for weekend fun when allowing. As I drive a 3series beater during the week the wife needs a car to move our 'mogwai' around as obviously you cannot do anything legitmately with the passenger airbag on the S.

We are just about to take delivery of her Grandad's '98 Polo with 12,000 miles on the clock as a third car but I wonder whether it is worth keeping the S locked up when it won't get get much use for realistically eight months going forward. So the question is do I sell the S (over 30 months of ownership) and get a family friendly four or decent 3 door?

The wife would want something that has comparable power but is not a Scooby or Evo. An M3 is out due to us having to put money towards it. As far as I can see if I was to go this route and give up the S for a few years it would have to be replaced with an RX-8. However I have never driven one and actually have never seen one driven fast.

So do I become a three car family with associated costs or chop the S and Polo for something else such as an RX-8?

All views both constructive and down right silly welcome

Boab01

I'm about to have another and the S is my daily drive .

IMHO you only need one sensible car, the other can be a hoon mobile.

But if you must a DC5 or old model CTR is a bloody good alternative. Similar performance but practical.

s3dgley

Congratulations on your second

Not sure what your drive is to work but mine is varied due to be being home based and travelling UK wide to meetings. I average around 35K a year so getting rid of the 3Series and using the S as the daily would not really be practical.

Any views on the RX-8 anyone?

funster

Never driven the RX-8 myself, but a mate of mine at work was faced with a similar dilema when his sprog was due. He had an S2000 for four years and went for the RX-8. Said it was good, but when he took a look at my S after I got it you could see the pang of disappointment..... he wanted the S back!

I'm not sure that helps you very much. Sorry!

Nick Graves

The S and RX would make excellent garage companions; especially now the RX is so affordable.

Imagine a cross between an MX5 and an S2000 ans that's it.

But it's no S2000 replacement. Nothing is.

Boab01

RX-8 is a thirsty car, more so than the S2k. Cheap though so less in the way of depreciation.

My drive to work involves getting up

grantedS2k

I just became a dad for the first time, and I use the S for my daily drive (when not catching the train) and we leased a brand new 5dr Astra to decide what we really need from a car with a baby on board!

Needless to say the Astra is sufficient for our current needs, the high boot comes in handy whe stowing the pram & frame (the focus was good on this too!) and its not shabby to drive!

When we get our second, i will upgrade the wifes car to something with sliding doors (mazda 5 or VW T5 multivan), but for the moment the 5dr "beater" does us proud!

What kind of mileage do you put on your BMW beater every week?

soulcrew

i bought an impreza 2.0 r sport 5 door for me and the kids.

80% of the performance of the wrx. corners just as fast.

cheaper to insure.

not many about.

q,cheap as well.

Shipley

I have 2 kids (11 and 7) and have had the S all the time as a plaything.

My wife has the people wagon (her choice ) but I also have a 'sensible' Merc beater.

The Honda is my motorbike, although the kids love it too so (if you can afford it) I would recommend keeping the S and running a beater. This protects the S and means you don't worry about car parks, supermarkets etc. etc.

The way I see it, if I sell the S I will struggle to replace it without adding

s3dgley

All useful stuff.

Typical weekly mileage for my 330 beater is 1,000 miles. The S has only got 22K on it at the moment (52plate) and is currently my wifes daily 12mile drive.

I think the trouble is that you get spoilt with the S performance in relation to cost and as pointed out there is nothing else in this bracket.

So maybe the way forward is to suck it and see with the Polo as the weekday baby transporter, my beater for the weekend and the S for those *special days* - bank balance allowing of course