[Majdnoon]

I've got a bit of a decision to make and I wanted some perspectives that are not my own.


I currently have 2 cars; a '98 E36 M3 (my weekender/race car) and a '14 Dodge Charger R/T (my daily driver). There's a lot to like about the Hemi, but also a lot to dislike. IE lack of a manual, undefeatable stability control, heavy. It's got about 23,xxx miles. Now that it's out of warranty, I'm thinking I might move on.


My idea is to trade in my Charger for a clean, low-mileage, well-maintained E39 5-series with a manual trans. Preferably a 540i M-sport. The reason for this is twofold: I'd enjoy my daily driver more than I do now, and I'd have an extra $10-15K to invest (IE deposit for a house, buy a car to flip, save for a rainy day, etc) due to blue book value being about $25K. The Charger is paid off.


I've got plenty of frustrating experiences working on my E36, so I'm gonna do the E39 right. No POS Craigslist specials. Sub-100K mileage, zero rust, great condition, lovingly maintained by someone who keeps all maintenance records in a laminated binder. I would take care of it in the same kind.


The way I see it, the main risks are potential reliability issues (see my mostly-broken E36 race car). Despite my plan to buy the cleanest E39 I can find, it's still a 20 year old BMW. But the Charger is out of warranty now, and I've heard about poor reliability in modern Chrysler products.


I'm a lawyer so I'd have the money to properly maintain the E39 when issues come up.*


What do you guys think? Am I making a financial mistake? Are reliability issues not gonna be worth the extra $10-15K in my pocket? Any issues I'm not seeing here? Anything else to add?

Thanks for your input.*