For Those with kids...

[EnVe46]

Talking over with the wife, trying to figure out our car situation. For those who don't know, I've got my adored E90, 740i and wife has an A3. Her car has about 11 months remaining and also a good chunk of negative equity. Her prior car needed about 4-5k in work so rather pay cash on that, we rolled into lease. No big deal.

Well, we are expecting our first child in May. My car situation is perfectly fine, both the 740 and E90 will do its job. Matter of fact, I planned this situation so Id be able to keep the E90. Here is our dilemma, the wife's car is too small for rear facing car seat. She can drive the 740 without a problem and its safe but lets be honest, its a 17/18 yr old car, anything can happen. If its me that breaks down or something, I can manage. She works about 40 minutes from home, while I work 5 miles from home. She wont drive the E90, she knows how I feel towards it and she'd be constantly worried about something happening and it being her fault hahaha. Plus she likes to kiss curbs with the wheels

Most of you, myself included, say do whatever you can, keep the E90 and thats the ultimate goal. But, I also have a good amount of equity in the car and can sell it, put cash in my pocket and get her a larger vehicle. Id drive her A3, , until lease end and hopefully get another E90 or something else. If selling the E90 does happen, Id sell the 740 too and consolidate. I REALLY dont want to sell the E90 and didn't plan to until my conversation last night with the wife. I definitely wouldn't have just spent a couple grand getting the body 100%. But, I also have to think about what makes the most financial sense. With the equity in the car, plus the drop of the 740 off insurance with the M3 and getting her a new SUV, it'll put 8-10k in cash in my pocket and save me about $250/mth. When planning for a kid, this HAS to be considered.

So lets put aside our love for cars and my love for mine. Does selling the E90 make the most sense?

[MikeyDawg]

I was in a similar situation a few year ago when #2 was on the way. I ended up selling my (dream) lifted Jeep Rubicon for a more practical SUV for my wife since I still owed 25k on the Jeep and her C class was paid off. So now technically I don't have a car, I just drive whatever she isn't driving... but I work from home so not a huge deal....I digress.

It's hard to say what is best for you, but I can say, I am now in the market for an e90 just a few short years later so if you end up selling your e90, like you suggested, it probably wont be that long before you can get back into another e90 of your liking or maybe something else you want at the time.

Can you squeeze out 11 months with her in the 740 until the A3 lease runs out?

[byroncheung]

if it's just her and the baby in the A3, won't the car seat fit if it's on the pax side rear with the front pax seat push forth a bit?

[dickchow]

I was in your situation too and now have 2 children.

Safety first for my family and children, I would get them the safest and most reliable car with low chance of highway breakdown and good safety shell, so a Toyota SUV of some sort, or a Sienna, or a Toyota truck....then if budget allows, try to keep the m3 or just drive a beater (or your 740i, and if it breaks down, you are not far from home anyways)

[ItsGary]

Originally Posted by dickchow

I was in your situation too and now have 2 children.

Safety first for my family and children, I would get them the safest and most reliable car with low chance of highway breakdown and good safety shell, so a Toyota SUV of some sort, or a Sienna, or a Toyota truck....then if budget allows, try to keep the m3 or just drive a beater (or your 740i, and if it breaks down, you are not far from home anyways)

This, it makes more sense to get rid of the 740i in this case, do you really need a full size sedan? If you want to stick with BMW then the 5 Series should be sufficient as a Mid-Size. If you want "reliability" then just wait till the lease on the A3 ends and lease something bigger, that way you can have the peace of mind of road side assistance with warranty.

[spiderspider]

i don't understand why a car seat won't fit in the A3.

[EnVe46]

Originally Posted by MikeyDawg

I was in a similar situation a few year ago when #2 was on the way. I ended up selling my (dream) lifted Jeep Rubicon for a more practical SUV for my wife since I still owed 25k on the Jeep and her C class was paid off. So now technically I don't have a car, I just drive whatever she isn't driving... but I work from home so not a huge deal....I digress.

It's hard to say what is best for you, but I can say, I am now in the market for an e90 just a few short years later so if you end up selling your e90, like you suggested, it probably wont be that long before you can get back into another e90 of your liking or maybe something else you want at the time.

Can you squeeze out 11 months with her in the 740 until the A3 lease runs out?

Its certainly an option. E38s aren't known for their cooling system reliability let alone other things, despite it being in good shape with new parts. I just don't want any issues for her.

Originally Posted by byroncheung

if it's just her and the baby in the A3, won't the car seat fit if it's on the pax side rear with the front pax seat push forth a bit?

Yes, with the passenger seat as far forwar as possible. However, Im not quite fond of placing a new born on the sides, Id rather be in the middle, protected from as much as possible. We live in South Florida where driving is the last thing a person actually does when they're behind the wheel

Originally Posted by dickchow

I was in your situation too and now have 2 children.

Safety first for my family and children, I would get them the safest and most reliable car with low chance of highway breakdown and good safety shell, so a Toyota SUV of some sort, or a Sienna, or a Toyota truck....then if budget allows, try to keep the m3 or just drive a beater (or your 740i, and if it breaks down, you are not far from home anyways)

The problem with that is we have 11 months of payments left on her A3. To get out of it means rolling more negative equity into a new lease which is what Im trying to avoid.

Originally Posted by ItsGary

This, it makes more sense to get rid of the 740i in this case, do you really need a full size sedan? If you want to stick with BMW then the 5 Series should be sufficient as a Mid-Size. If you want "reliability" then just wait till the lease on the A3 ends and lease something bigger, that way you can have the peace of mind of road side assistance with warranty.

I can sell the 740 tmrw, thats not really my concern. Its keeping the E90 or not to get HER into a bigger vehicle.

Originally Posted by spiderspider

i don't understand why a car seat won't fit in the A3.

It will fit in the back, on the side which neither myself or my wife want to do. Unfortunately, the stories of a child lost on another BMW forum, from being on the side, is just something we are trying to avoid. Paranoid new parents, I know.

[spiderspider]

definitely put in the middle if you can. i thought it'd be an easier fit in the middle, to be honest.

[EnVe46]

Originally Posted by spiderspider

definitely put in the middle if you can. i thought it'd be an easier fit in the middle, to be honest.

Definitely disappointing but it is their entry model. My wife, while tall at 5'10 with super model legs, she sits straight up and close to the wheel. Still can't fit a rear facing seat.

[wfdeacon88]

Originally Posted by EnVe46

Its certainly an option. E38s aren't known for their cooling system reliability let alone other things, despite it being in good shape with new parts. I just don't want any issues for her.

Yes, with the passenger seat as far forwar as possible. However, Im not quite fond of placing a new born on the sides, Id rather be in the middle, protected from as much as possible. We live in South Florida where driving is the last thing a person actually does when they're behind the wheel

The problem with that is we have 11 months of payments left on her A3. To get out of it means rolling more negative equity into a new lease which is what Im trying to avoid.

I can sell the 740 tmrw, thats not really my concern. Its keeping the E90 or not to get HER into a bigger vehicle.

It will fit in the back, on the side which neither myself or my wife want to do. Unfortunately, the stories of a child lost on another BMW forum, from being on the side, is just something we are trying to avoid. Paranoid new parents, I know.

My wife is extremely OCD about car safety with the infant, like she read EVERYTHING and is very informed... just a suspicion that the Middle Seat for a rear facing infant is not safest... otherwise, she wouldn't let me have ours in the side seat in my M and her Tahoe. For example, I ordered some seat protectors for the car seat and when they came she flipped saying "you can't use these, they are not safe bla bla bla" and also made throw out a car seat because the straps got wet.. like with water... just throwing it out there that you might want to check that out just in case that is the reason you are saying it doesn't fit

[EnVe46]

Originally Posted by wfdeacon88

My wife is extremely OCD about car safety with the infant, like she read EVERYTHING and is very informed... just a suspicion that the Middle Seat for a rear facing infant is not safest... otherwise, she wouldn't let me have ours in the side seat in my M and her Tahoe. For example, I ordered some seat protectors for the car seat and when they came she flipped saying "you can't use these, they are not safe bla bla bla" and also made throw out a car seat because the straps got wet.. like with water... just throwing it out there that you might want to check that out just in case that is the reason you are saying it doesn't fit

Hahaha Im laughing with you, not at you!!! Its a funny thing that happens when we become parents or expecting parents. Ive read about the middle seat not being ideal due to objects coming through the window and what not. Ill definitely take it into consideration. Thanks for heads up

[drrust]

Is the rear facing seat a removable 'pumpkin seat' or fixed seat? For the first six months the removable seats are significantly easier to deal with. Those seats aren't very large and may fit without issues.

But more importantly, congrats and hope Mom and baby are healthy!

[wfdeacon88]

Originally Posted by EnVe46

Hahaha Im laughing with you, not at you!!! Its a funny thing that happens when we become parents or expecting parents. Ive read about the middle seat not being ideal due to objects coming through the window and what not. Ill definitely take it into consideration. Thanks for heads up

Yep it's one of those things I don't fight unless I have the facts to back it up... oh well, I'm just glad I didn't have a divorce on my hands when I came home one day with an M3 without asking the "roommate".. It was one week after being rear ended in the 335 when I was alone (it was totalled) and was specifically told to get a good "family car, like an Acrua MDX" and the usual "thank God we got rid of the BMW money pit"...

[spazzyfry123]

My M3 was totaled by a negligent driver some months back. I easily could have bought another E90 of similar value and life moved on. But, life progresses and we digested the situation as a "positive" despite the many, many negatives. Ultimately we decided with our future plans (such as yours) that we press pause on toy and press play on life.

Long story short, she drives a super nice Jeep Grand Cherokee with every safety feature imaginable. No more M3 and no M3 replacement at the moment, but I couldn't be happier knowing that she is safe.

There's more to it than immediate gratification and justification for the fun toy. I'll get another one, no doubt, but there are more important things than "having to deal" with 11 months of boring. End game my friend, that's what it's really about.

[GRUESOM3]

2 car E90 driver checking in with 3 and 1/2 year old and 6 month old. First you don't need to get a suv to have kids, does it make things easier yeah. Are you safer? I don't know about you but whenever I see accidents in nyc and surrounding areas I see SUV's over turned in a ditch.

There's so many things that come in to play with kids and cars that I would tell you to shop accessories before you even consider the car. If you listen to whatever they say out there your going to need a bus, 7 babysitters for each day of the week and possibly private plane when flying.

Your life style and where the kids will be going is what changes everything. Stroller time vs car seat time. They now have some amazing stuff that you don't need a lot of space. Look up the stroller car seat combo Doona (amazing stuff), you can even roll in a convertible if needed. Remember they grow very fast and e90 or similar is plenty of room for almost anything if utilized properly.

I took both kids apple picking recently and fit full size stroller in trunk with radio flyer disassembled with plenty of room left, even could fit 2 small luggage's if needed.

[jv92red]

TL;DR = Wife drives the A3 while baby is safely strapped in the rear seat. (it's more dependable than the 740 and is safe), you drive the M3. If you need to financially, then sell the 740.

NHTSA Safety Ratings for a A3:
Overall = 5 out of 5 stars
Side impact = 5 out of 5 stars
https://www.nhtsa.gov/vehicle/2018/A...y-ratings-side

Let me preface this by saying I have two kids, both are out of car seats now but a few years back they were BOTH at the age where they needed to be in car seats at the same time and I was anal about transitioning them out of booster seats when they were getting bigger and keeping them in booster seats longer than required cause it was safer while most other parents were just strapping in their larger older toddlers in via regular seat belts with no booster seat at all so I'm all about safety. But IMHO, your being TOO anal about safety. To say that your child can ONLY be fastened in a center seat to be safe? So what if you had twins? one gets the center and the other is left exposed to now potential death by getting strapped into the side that happened to get T-boned in? Talk about Sophie's choice, which of your kids do you choose to have "exposed"? I can't even imagine having to decide this... I guess in the very small chance a big rig T bones you, then perhaps your baby might have a better chance of surviving that collision strapped in the middle while maybe having a higher chance of dying if strapped in one of the rear side seats. So this is what you would be getting rid of your car for, a statistical guess?

Sorry if I come off like a a-hole but I see many new parents thinking things aren't safe enough for their kids and they need to go above and beyond to keep their kids safe... Cars are safer now than they ever were. Lucky I wasn't thrown through the windshield when I was a kid in my dad's 69' Mustang, I sat between the front driver and passenger seats on a home made wooden box that sat on the tranny tunnel. No car seat, no seat belt.

I just checked the National Highway Safety Traffic Safety Administration website about car seats and while it talks about requirements on and about child safety seats, I can't find anywhere on that website where it talks about having to be in the center rather than the side?

https://www.nhtsa.gov/equipment/car-...-booster-seats

[jiggz]

1st off, congrats on soon becoming a dad! The best in life is yet to come for you and your wife

Anyhow, I'm a bit older than you I'm sure, my 2 girls are in middle school. I have my E90 M3 (IB, just like yours ), and my wife has an E70 50i M sport. For us, these 2 vehicles are the perfect vehicle combo for our family of 4. Of course now you can spend more $ and get a used F15 X5 if you want newer/less miles. When I bought my E70 in 2014, it was nearly $50K but they've tanked in value over the years, just like the F15 is doing right now.

There are some killer deals on E70s if you are willing to do an older SUV, and if you want never, you can search F15's. With kids comes baby gear - pack 'n play, strollers (often times more than one), exersaucer, etc. Point being, lots of baby gear and it's all big. Not gonna fit in your E90, or E38, or A3. A BMW SUV might be a sweet choice.

A BMW SUV won't tackle corners quite like your E90 but they are amazing driving vehicles, especially the 50i with the TT V8. Mines at the dealer right now getting the Dinan software, which is on sale. 494 HP, 579 Torque

[Scrippy]

Only my 2 cents but I have 2 children as well. I drive the E92 M and my wife drives a Tacoma crew cab. She does not like BMW's or anything similar. Super great truck man! Fits all of us and gets us through Mammoth easily. Sell the 740 privately since I assume you can wait 30-40 days as is. Trade the Audi at Toyota with 740 money down for any of the following in your budget new or used.....
Tacoma crew cab
Tundra access or crew cab
4 runner
Before I became obsessed with BMW I was rocking Toyota trucks for years. (1) SR5, (3) Tacoma's and (1)Tundra. They will run forever! If absolutely necessary to make sure the fam is all good sell the E90 as well and regroup. They're just cars man and luckily for us all there is diversity in taste. There will always be a great gem available. Good luck dude!

[amrazM]

Priorities comes first, if it means selling the M3 you have to do what you have to do.

Although you may want to keep the M3 you can always buy another one you won’t want to be breaking your back putting a child into the back.

[Transfer]

Sell 740i, turn in A3, and lease G20. Boom.

[redEYEjedi]

How about one of these?

[EnVe46]

Originally Posted by spazzyfry123

My M3 was totaled by a negligent driver some months back. I easily could have bought another E90 of similar value and life moved on. But, life progresses and we digested the situation as a "positive" despite the many, many negatives. Ultimately we decided with our future plans (such as yours) that we press pause on toy and press play on life.

Long story short, she drives a super nice Jeep Grand Cherokee with every safety feature imaginable. No more M3 and no M3 replacement at the moment, but I couldn't be happier knowing that she is safe.

There's more to it than immediate gratification and justification for the fun toy. I'll get another one, no doubt, but there are more important things than "having to deal" with 11 months of boring. End game my friend, that's what it's really about.

I think this is what Im trying to do to my mentality. I need to not be so attached to a car that I can't make a logical decision. I adore my E90, I think its worth $1mil hahaha but at some point, its still a car that I can buy again.

Originally Posted by GRUESOM3

2 car E90 driver checking in with 3 and 1/2 year old and 6 month old. First you don't need to get a suv to have kids, does it make things easier yeah. Are you safer? I don't know about you but whenever I see accidents in nyc and surrounding areas I see SUV's over turned in a ditch.

There's so many things that come in to play with kids and cars that I would tell you to shop accessories before you even consider the car. If you listen to whatever they say out there your going to need a bus, 7 babysitters for each day of the week and possibly private plane when flying.

Your life style and where the kids will be going is what changes everything. Stroller time vs car seat time. They now have some amazing stuff that you don't need a lot of space. Look up the stroller car seat combo Doona (amazing stuff), you can even roll in a convertible if needed. Remember they grow very fast and e90 or similar is plenty of room for almost anything if utilized properly.

I took both kids apple picking recently and fit full size stroller in trunk with radio flyer disassembled with plenty of room left, even could fit 2 small luggage's if needed.

The E90 will do the job, thats really not my problem. The A3 being 11 months left and not really being able to do as much as we will need, is. Sure, it'll fit and the wife loves the car but she's worried about strapping a kid in there. Whether she should be worried or not isn't much of the issue. A worried mother/driver is the last thing I want to deal with.

Originally Posted by jv92red

TL;DR = Wife drives the A3 while baby is safely strapped in the rear seat. (it's more dependable than the 740 and is safe), you drive the M3. If you need to financially, then sell the 740.

NHTSA Safety Ratings for a A3:
Overall = 5 out of 5 stars
Side impact = 5 out of 5 stars
https://www.nhtsa.gov/vehicle/2018/A...y-ratings-side

Let me preface this by saying I have two kids, both are out of car seats now but a few years back they were BOTH at the age where they needed to be in car seats at the same time and I was anal about transitioning them out of booster seats when they were getting bigger and keeping them in booster seats longer than required cause it was safer while most other parents were just strapping in their larger older toddlers in via regular seat belts with no booster seat at all so I'm all about safety. But IMHO, your being TOO anal about safety. To say that your child can ONLY be fastened in a center seat to be safe? So what if you had twins? one gets the center and the other is left exposed to now potential death by getting strapped into the side that happened to get T-boned in? Talk about Sophie's choice, which of your kids do you choose to have "exposed"? I can't even imagine having to decide this... I guess in the very small chance a big rig T bones you, then perhaps your baby might have a better chance of surviving that collision strapped in the middle while maybe having a higher chance of dying if strapped in one of the rear side seats. So this is what you would be getting rid of your car for, a statistical guess?

Sorry if I come off like a a-hole but I see many new parents thinking things aren't safe enough for their kids and they need to go above and beyond to keep their kids safe... Cars are safer now than they ever were. Lucky I wasn't thrown through the windshield when I was a kid in my dad's 69' Mustang, I sat between the front driver and passenger seats on a home made wooden box that sat on the tranny tunnel. No car seat, no seat belt.

I just checked the National Highway Safety Traffic Safety Administration website about car seats and while it talks about requirements on and about child safety seats, I can't find anywhere on that website where it talks about having to be in the center rather than the side?

https://www.nhtsa.gov/equipment/car-...-booster-seats

Not being an asshole at all, just telling how it is. I don't think our issue is we want to go buy an Escalade XL, the A3 just isn't going to be comfortable for the wife which means she'd need to take one of my cars. To me, it's selfish to hold onto a car when I could sell both and get her something she's comfortable in. Q3/5, Macan, XC40/60 or S5 sportback. To me, E90 will do its job and perfectly. The size of it checks all the boxes. But the wife won't drive it due to my insanity about it. The 740 is a great car, but I can't say I feel confident in it. I do really appreciate your forwardness and advice. Thats what I was looking for.

Originally Posted by jiggz

1st off, congrats on soon becoming a dad! The best in life is yet to come for you and your wife

Anyhow, I'm a bit older than you I'm sure, my 2 girls are in middle school. I have my E90 M3 (IB, just like yours ), and my wife has an E70 50i M sport. For us, these 2 vehicles are the perfect vehicle combo for our family of 4. Of course now you can spend more $ and get a used F15 X5 if you want newer/less miles. When I bought my E70 in 2014, it was nearly $50K but they've tanked in value over the years, just like the F15 is doing right now.

There are some killer deals on E70s if you are willing to do an older SUV, and if you want never, you can search F15's. With kids comes baby gear - pack 'n play, strollers (often times more than one), exersaucer, etc. Point being, lots of baby gear and it's all big. Not gonna fit in your E90, or E38, or A3. A BMW SUV might be a sweet choice.

A BMW SUV won't tackle corners quite like your E90 but they are amazing driving vehicles, especially the 50i with the TT V8. Mines at the dealer right now getting the Dinan software, which is on sale. 494 HP, 579 Torque

X5's are definitely on the short list but may be too big. Ultimately, we can't turn in the A3 early without rolling more negative equity or the E90 wouldn't be in question.

Originally Posted by Scrippy

Only my 2 cents but I have 2 children as well. I drive the E92 M and my wife drives a Tacoma crew cab. She does not like BMW's or anything similar. Super great truck man! Fits all of us and gets us through Mammoth easily. Sell the 740 privately since I assume you can wait 30-40 days as is. Trade the Audi at Toyota with 740 money down for any of the following in your budget new or used.....
Tacoma crew cab
Tundra access or crew cab
4 runner
Before I became obsessed with BMW I was rocking Toyota trucks for years. (1) SR5, (3) Tacoma's and (1)Tundra. They will run forever! If absolutely necessary to make sure the fam is all good sell the E90 as well and regroup. They're just cars man and luckily for us all there is diversity in taste. There will always be a great gem available. Good luck dude!

The wife love's truck, I think she'd fit well in out but not sure she'd go for it. As mentioned in previous posts, the A3 has 11 months left on the lease. Don't want to roll more negative equity into another car

Originally Posted by redEYEjedi

How about one of these?

Yea, that'd be a dream! Its a shame they never made an E91 M3. I have been shopping E63 wagon's.


To summarize, everyone has great suggestions. That's why I love this forum. The A3 has 11 months left on it and I dont want to turn it in early and roll 5k on negative equity into a new lease. Thats why the E90 is even up on the chopping block. Im struggling because the logical things is to sell the 740 and M3, pocket the money, get the wife a suitable driver and Id run the A3 into its expiration date. But, I can't get myself to post my E90 again. The car is damn near perfect in every aspect.