stormhammer

How in the world were the control arms broken?

Lotus99

Cheticus, What mileage did you have on your car and what year is it? Would be helpful to know that.

cheticus

I have an '06 with 82k miles on it. It was purchased with 63k miles.

norsecarnut

I have extensive experience with both. I had a new 2007 E91: RWD, mt6, absolutely loaded from factory ($52,000 sticker). Silver with black. All options and packages plus 19" sport wheel set.

Currently I have an 08 E61, 6mt. Most of the options and now modified a little.

While the 5 is considerably bigger inside than the 3, my needs require the size for the way I travel. However, I had a blast and hauled what I needed in the 3 as well. One trip was 3500 miles over two weeks. 4 bikes, camping gear, ARB fridge, 2 people, only 1 ticket in Canada...

What's more important about the gear hauling is the weight handling the 5 provides by way of the air suspension. The 3 was really loaded down, which only exacerbates the uneven tire wear on the rear inner edge.

Handling: The E91, rwd, was awesome really. I had a staggered 8.5" / 9.5" x 19" wheel set. It was fantastic cornering.

The 5 is much nicer cruising for 8-10 hrs a day, but the pure handling is best in the 3.

Comfort wise, I was perfectly fine in the 3 with the "sport" package seats but that was before I got the S4 Audi Avant with really nice Recaros and that was before I got spoiled with the 5 series "20 way comfort seats".

Ergonomically they both work well with the driver seat having a very good range vertically relative to the arm rests and steering wheel adjustment range. However, I could stand to have a little more drop in the steering wheel for the long days.

The 5 is quieter inside at speed with better sound dampening.

Many "features" are identical like the separately opening hatch glass, rear windows dropping fully into the door when rolled down, very well designed split section panoramic roof with solid interior panel for both thermal and sound barrier.

The 5 though has some things that to me are just too much to pass up if choosing:

-auto load leveling rear suspension (of course this is just one more thing that "can" fail someday whereas steel springs basically do not fail)

-much more comfortable seating, both in ergonomics but also material grades

-dynamic headlights

-HUD

-turbo power and torque

-nicer arm rest area

-higher ground clearance

-larger tires sizes work (actual tire diameter) Also provides more ground clearance for travels along gravel roads, snow, etc.

-more storage space in doors, cargo floor, side pockets.

-ability to tow more weight safely ( I have a 2" hitch rated for 3500 lbs)

Overall, I see the 3 as a sports car-like travel car while the 5 is a true travel car with more practical functionality as well as a few nice upgrades.

An 08+ E61 with the turbos and air suspension may have other extra things as well that will also contribute to long term cost of ownership due to maintenance and repairs.

The 328 xit I had with manual transmission didn't have nearly as many things to go wrong over time. It got pretty good fuel economy nearing 30mpg. However, I have been able to squeak almost that out of the E61 as well with oversized tires and the Dinan ecu tune.