Havas (a member here who happens to live next door to me) is about to become a father. He recently part exed + cash his 51 plate S2000 for an M3 SMG cab. His wife has a 1-series which will do most of the "with baby" driving, especially as the M3 only has 2 doors.

He's very happy with the M3 and it can accomodate the baby when necessary.

 

Interesting. Be good to hear his views.

There seems to be a lot of M3's Cabs for sale, I wonder if this is because warranties have expired?

 

I think he got his (a 52 plate) for under

 

In truth kind of bored with my 330 (saloon) and as the S has to go I thought let's change both and get more power with a Cab.

I have been looking around Autotrader today at the RX8's and I must admit the do look kind of roomy albeit tin top. If we went this way I'd just keep my Beemer and get ride of Polo and S.

 

We had our third sprog October last year which really buggered things up due to our other two being 4 year old twins. I bought my S new just after the twins were born as a more sensible toy than my motor bikes. Managed to do 11000 miles in 3 years and ending up selling it due to not using it enough. We already had an FRV for round town child travel however having a 3rd kid under 5 has meant that we need to carry a LOT more stuff (never ceases to amaze me what we have to carry - not to mention that the total pram purchases has risen to 11 different models but thats another story). I wanted to get a 'sensible' but 'upmarket car that could carry all 5 of us in comfort so bought a Merc E320 CDI Sport just before baby No. 3 arrived. It was only when we tried to get 3 baby seats across the back seat we realised they didnt all fit!. Its a serious problem finding a car that takes 3 baby seats across the back because in most cars the middle seat is not full size and the belts cant strap in not to mention doors not being able to shut! - and no an MPV is not any better 'cos you have to use the 3rd row which takes up your boot space! We eventually got it down to a Volvo XC90 or a Discovery 3 that met all our seating and luggage requirements. Expensive lesson as the Merc took a 4K hit in 5 months ownership.

What did we end up with? - bought the Discovery and running costs aside we are really pleased with it. I'd have an S again tomorrow and if cash came available wouldnt mind one of the first models as they are bound to become a 'future classic'.

 

As said above by Gad, decent sporty 4 seat convertables are few and far between, infact I cant think of a decent one.
i would say that if you have a sprog ultimate sports is not what you will be looking for and I would certainly be looking for something that is going to give the baby a nice smooth ride. So non M 3 series coupes or Audi a4 cabs would be my starting point. maybe a newer 1 series coupe conv.