M5 or 996

1107 Views 9 Replies 7 Participants Last post by alpywhite, May 25, 2000

Tate

Discussion Starter · May 18, 2000

I'm presently the happy owner of a 99 540 with sport package. To date this has been the best car I've owned. I chose the 5spd steptronic automatic due to the amount of driving I conducted. Unfortunately, a great deal of that time was spent in traffic (I live in L.A.). Anyway, my commute to work has been drastically reduced recently and I'm in the market for a new car (i.e. one with a manual tranny). The 6spd Porsche 996 with the factory Aerokit (basically looks like a GT3) is my current choice. The problem is that I've truly enjoyed my BMW. Furthermore, the enthusiasm expressed by the posts on this forum have made me take a second look at the M5. Now I don't want to start any war of words, but for arguments sake lets assume that both cars boast similar performance figures. So here's my question: Does it seem a bit odd driving a 4000lb 4 dour sedan with a manual tranny? Every car that I've owned, with the exception of the 540, has been a two-seater sports car with a manual. It just seems that manual transmissions belong in smaller compact sports cars. Please help do away with my concerns as the M5 seems oh so sweet.

Safe driving to all.

Tate

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bobafett

· #3 · May 18, 2000

I dunno. My stable doesn't quite fit the porsche in. Too similar to the M5 in performance. See also, 360 Modena.

In any case, when I was looking into porsche, I found it hard to swallow that a basic 996 that costs 70k base (68,595 or something strange), ended up costing me 92k when i selected all of my options. In all honesty, i think Porsche is out of it's mind if they think they can charge me for anything more than the stripped down car. Besides, wouldn't it be all the more worthwhile if you come along ANOTHER 996 and you find that you demoralize him, or at least give him a run for his money. Oh wait, did I mention that you have TWO EXTRA DOORS and seating for 5

My two cents,
--Dan

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bobafett

· #8 · May 20, 2000

Same thing happened to me. I called all the way out to NY (im in calif). Small dealer in So. Cal. called me up and told me that he had a cancellation. I called abck and another guy called him within 5 minutes of me. The dealer was cool, gave it to me (first call) and within a week I had mine. I've heard waits from 3 months to 3 years, so it's all in the cards. Try small areas. Also, if there's a large BMW dealer somewhere and a small one near that, try the small one.

and you considered a 996. HA!

--Dan

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