Don't do it Rich! Your car is awesome. Everything else will just feel slow. But of your selections, I really like the look of the Audi S5. Never driven one, but I really like my buddies S4. Wouldn't trade my p-car for it but definitely a nice car.

 

I had an e46 M3 for a while. 5 trips to the dealership in 14 months, 3 of which were non-starting issues.

Get an E55 - as far as executive 4 door sleds go; at that price nothing will touch it.

 

Rudy, you want a stick shift or an automatic? This daily driver other than being sporty and relatively fast with reasonable back seats, do you prefer a 4-door sedan? Wagon? Coupe?

Specify a little more please (body style preference, transmission, MPG if matters).

 

I actually like my tacoma double cab - have the 996TT for crusing around but have the double cab when I need to take extra people, dog, haul stuff. Works out great.

 

tphss:

I'd prefer an automatic transmission. Could be coupe/sedan/wagon, as long as I can put two adults of about 5'10" in height back there. As for MPG, obviously the higher the better in this $3.50/gallon climate, but the balance tips in favor of driving characteristics if it means sacrificing a bit in the fuel efficiency department. But to be specific, lets say nothing that gets worse than 16 city 21 highway.

Thanks for the help!

 

Was your e46 M3 equipped with SMG? I never kept my M3 long enough to experience any reliability issues with it (sold it with less than 30k miles on the odometer if I recall correctly). However, I am friends with the guy that bought my car. Seem like most of his car problems are SMG related (with one VANOS issue that I can remember).

If it's the supercharged E55 (W208?), a friend has one and he suffered an engine failure! I get the impression that the supercharged AMG cars from '03 to '05 or so don't appear too reliable. When I was considering a SL55 couple years back, I found plenty with buy-back title, which didn't inspire too much confidence in me

 

Jeep SRT8. Doesn't meet your mileage criteria but is one hell of a DD. And they don't look too bad either IMO...

 

If it was me and I didn't want an SUV to daily drive, but to stay with something fairly fast and sporty but also reasonable and practical (and automatic for the horrible traffic), there would be my choices for under 25K (first are smaller sedan, then larger ones):

1) Audi S4 (sedan/avant) 2004-2006: That 4.2 V8 340hp is a very good engine, it had a couple of tweaks over the years (my father had almost the same engine, but without direct injection in his 1999 and then 2003 A8), the quattro is a very good as well. The automatic of those years (tiptronic) is annoying if you like to control it manually as it doesn't let you complete control and the downshifts are not quick enough. If not the S4 you can find a newer A4 2.0T quattro for about the same price. The engine is very good and linear (better gearbox as well with paddle shifters on the s-line) and the 2.0T has much better MPG as well.
2) BMW e90 328i (sedan/wagon): well you drove plenty 3-series, you know...
3) Infiniti M35 2006+: great engine, reliable and comfortable, sporty and excellent gearbox.
4) BMW e60 530i / 545i (more power, less MPG)
5) Jaguar XJ8 (or XJR) 2004+: one of my personal favorites. Very comfortable and luxurious, you can find one for a FRACTION of the original price (usually with low miles). From 2004 on its a completely new body and revised chassis, with better handling (surprisingly good handling, although obviously not a sports car). The car is reliable as well and many people don't know this but the body is aluminum and the XJ8 although much bigger weighs about the same as a 2006 545i, and the same year Mercedes-Benz S430 weighs 500lbs more than the XJ8!

 

My little brother has a G37S and I feel exactly the same as your buddy about it. He's not BSing that he had the car and knows to a tea its faults. I fully agree with him, but my brother seems mostly happy besides going to wider rear tires recently. And yes the sound system is fairly good for a stock one. The clutch feels ridiculously disconnected from anything else.

Makes sense if you think about heavy braking and your weight shifting forward to downshift, then backwards with acceleration. You can be sure there was some arguing over that.

As for the original question, I pick the S4 from those options. Specifically, a manual transmission B6 model as I prefer its styling to the mechanically similar, facelifted B7. The car is a nice balance between comfort and sportiness. The biggest pitfall of the S4 is their notoriously poor fuel economy, but it's a great car. I drove one before getting my Subaru STi and liked it, but in the end the Subaru was sportier, more fun to drive, and much cheaper. You already have a Porsche, so getting a sort of sport cushy sedan makes sense. AWD is a plus for all season ability, and that V8 can sound very mean with downpipes and a cat-back. Also throw in a nice set of wheels and tires, a software flash, and some clear corners in front and you'll be good to go.

 

The S5 has really nice looks, but I really didn't like how it drove. It was very big, and felt that way behind the wheel.

 

My Co-Worker picked up a new VW GTI 4 door with DSG. He's extremely happy with it. Around your $25k budget and it's a new car. He says he gets like 30+MPG on the highway.

 

Though you probably can't get them for 25k, I put another vote out there for a BMW 335d. All the benefits of the 3 series with easily 30+ mpg and 425 lb. ft. of torque.

 

380 chp not whp with tune only.
with tune only, id say 330 max whp SAE.
to get 380 whp, you need just about every bolt (dps, IC) on as well and running near max boost.

 

For M cars, why limit your search to M3's? About four months ago I picked up a very, very clean E-39 M5 (2003) with 45K miles for less than your budget. I've owned M3s, and this is my second M5. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. There's not a ton out there, so you have to be patient to find a "good" one. Good luck!

 

That would be one of my options as well, but he wants an automatic, the e39 M5 is only in manual.