FrenchieDadRS

Decision time and I am asking forum members to please weigh in!
Current cars: '11 7.2RS and '18 F80 M3 6speed, BMW individual in Imola Red, where I am the original owner. It is our grocery getter and around town car - it is in very nice condition.

Wife and I are expecting our first child in the coming months and I have entertained trading away the M3 for a Toyota Land Cruiser. I have a deal potentially lined up but I am second guessing myself about the F80 decision, especially in-light of the new offerings from BMW.

On one hand, the Land Cruiser is the world's most reliable vehicle, will give us a lot of utility, but on the other hand, M3 is a cool kid hauler. We have two small dogs on top, so the M3 will be very cramped.

For those who walked this path before me, please share your infinite wisdom(s)!

flat6fan18

Congrats on the kid!

Rear facing works in a F80, but passenger/front seats will be pushed up. Honestly, having a SUV with kids makes life easy. Strollers, all the extra crap that comes with having a baby, that extra cargo space is so convenient.

Best of luck!

Upscale Audio

The GT3 is most likely your fun weekend car, so this car is the "do everything" car. Question is,how do you have fun with it? The Toyota is the perfect car...meaning a little bit of a bore-fest. You could consider a Porsche or BMW SUV but not my gig. But people love them.

If I was forced into that position I would get an Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio. It's the only SUV that hints to feeling like a small sedan, basically because it's a 4-wheel drive Giulia. My Giulia is the most fun I've ever had, period end of story. Beyond my Porsches. And a test drive does not explain it. It's a Ferrari V8 that is wet sump and two cylinders lopped off with a ZF 8HP transmission. The ride quality is exceptional. It's so friggin fast and I mean not just in a straight line.

And the best part is they at one point took a hit on resale though that changed some. And they are dependable. If it worries you get a Mopar or Fidelity warranty.

flat6fan18

I should have mentioned, if I only had one kid, I would have go with the F80 as the daily/family car. I had a F80 until my 2nd came along, and it was a very practical, fun vehicle. Decent room in boot, way more fun than any SUV out there. I’d get the SUV if you end up having a second child.

FrenchieDadRS

This makes total sense to me. Challenge for me is we have two dogs - also our kids... I am not willing to compromise comfort of fur babies and human baby, and I'm not sure this is doable in the F80.

RAudi Driver

I picked up a Cayenne Turbo, back in the day for this dad role and it turned out to be an amazing daily. Amazing! Now it's an Etron Chronos which is meh.

Also, you're FrenchieDad! How can this be your first child?

Wilder

Congrats! Agree with replacing the F80 with a sport SUV. A Macan should be enough for your needs. I have a Turbo PP (450HP) and it's more of a sport sedan on stilts than an SUV. It's reminiscent of my old E39 M5. I test drove a 957 Turbo two days ago. Doesn't begin to compare to my Macan.

Wilder

GTTommy

As a dog lover who also had a first kid a few years ago...the brutal matter of fact is, you won't really care about the dogs once your miniature GT3 driver is born.

For ref our main "family" car is now a Model 3, similar to the F80 size wise, never had a problem. For big trips we do have a VW van though which for me is the ultimate family bus, my friends have SUVs, they make zero sense to me, huge cars with very little space in them 700 litre load space in a cayenne, F80 is 500 litres, my VW bus has 3500 litres and can seat 5 fully grown men without trying. SUVs are literally pointless, bit like an automatic GT3 huh

Sirenty

Depending on the size of the dogs, I’d suggest swapping the F80 for something else. Or adding something else if you can. When my kid was born, I had a 4Runner for main duties and picked up an E39 M5 for fun family duties. That car was stupid fun; I still miss it.

Now, I have an F80 specifically for daily and kid purposes. And while I’ve taken a dog to the vet before in it, going somewhere with two 50lb dogs and my kid would be a non-starter, even with them no longer being in a car seat. The rear facing car seats when they are young take up a lot of room. It’s better when they can sit in a forward facing one, but those still encroach on the middle part of the back seat. (BTW, I suggest putting down a thick mat and/or towel under and behind the car seat to protect the leather from hard car seat edges and spills. I had various seats in there for a couple years and you can’t tell now that it had one. Back seats are unmarked)

Luckily, my wife has a Volvo wagon, so that is the “full family going somewhere” car, whereas my car is the “human family going somewhere” car.

BryanCO

Did I miss re what you wife drives?

Our son is 18 and a freshman in college. My wife always had an SUV (currently a Macan) and I’ve had a fun but reasonably practical daily driver (currently an e92 M3 with a G80 M3 on order). One small dog (our fourth Pug). No need for two very practical vehicles. This has always worked for us.

vma1788

Depending on how much driving and road trips you do the fuel economy of the Land Cruiser will get old. While the m3 isnt great on gas, 10-12mpg hwy is noticeably bad. I'd suggest adding a car to the fleet but if spending a ton extra isnt on the agenda, look into a GX460 or 470 or even LX570- same Toyota reliability but for a fraction of the cost.

flat6fan18

Only downside with 4Runner and GX (same platform as 4Runner), it runs a bit narrow in rear seating area. And that v6 eats up gas. 2 car seats made it a bit tight in my old 4Runner as well. But GX is a bit taller. Cargo space is excellent though.

Our Q7 is great with 2 car seats, and enough room for my 50 lb furry incessantly shedding child to relax comfortably, with good cargo space volume. And, I got the 4cyl Q7 and fuel efficiency is great, works out well for 5-6 hour road trips.

prl

We have a 2 964’s, a 10’ rs, 2023 m3 manual, x5 hybrid 22’ and a model 3 tesla. Rear facing car seats honestly fit great in the m3. We have a 1 and 3 year old. We are dumping the tesla, the x5 hybrid gets a real 30 miles on electric which is a day of weekday driving plus we got the full 7500 credit with the old rules. I would pick a bmw over a porsche suv and day and I’ve had 30 911’s.
keep the m3. It’s so fun I love it, it rips. We’re down sizing. Keeping 1 964 (****ty one), 10 rs, m3, maybe the x5.

nle

We have a ‘21 heritage LC200. Best vehicle I’ve owned to date and I cannot imagine having a family w less vehicle space.