RS2 or M5 Touring?

[Futse]

I'm looking to buy a fun second car. Thought about a Porsche 964, but maybe something more practical might be handy for the girlfriend and kids - an estate could take the family on our yearly trip to the South of France, it would sure be more fun than the company car

I'm looking at something more than 15 years old, very interesting for insurance and tax in Belgium, rwd or 4x4, manual gearbox. So the obvious choices are RS2 or M5 Touring. Or is there something else?

What are the positive and negative points of either car? Anyone have experience with one of them?

Thanks already for the help

Bram

[dubbs]

Out of the two.... RS2 would be on my drive as a useful wagon.

Saying that V70R or Saab 95 Aero fantastic value.

V70R with 5 pot burble and 310bhp chip anyone? Also 10 years more modern

[buffly]

M5!!!!

[Cactussed]

R32 GTR...

[Neil.D]

dubbs said:

Saying that V70R or Saab 95 Aero fantastic value.

V70R with 5 pot burble and 310bhp chip anyone? Also 10 years more modern

Sadly after mentioning M5 + RS2 a Saab or Volvo cannot be considered fun.
I had a VOLVO V70R and it was shiet. Not that fast and a nose heavy canal boat. Plus everyone you drive past thinks your really boring.

[jeremyc]

Futse said:

I'm looking at something more than 15 years old, very interesting for insurance and tax in Belgium, rwd or 4x4, manual gearbox. So the obvious choices are RS2 or M5 Touring. Or is there something else?

RS2s aren't quite 15 years old - though the first ones will be at the end of next year (2009).

Regardless, RS2 every time.

[belleair302]

Having owned an RS2, like my learned friend above^^^^ and knowing a number of E34 M5 Touring owners...its a tough shout. The RS2 if you buy well will enter you into that exclusive club of owning one of the last great 'cult' cars. E34 M5 Tourings are wonderful to drive, seriously quick and with useful space. However they can be expensive to run even as a toy. The Audi is something very special, somewhat flawed but massively fast and a wonderful toy!

[rassi]

Or what about the Mercedes 500E? Not sure how that would work out with road tax in Belgium, but if you could pick up a nice facelift one (E500 I suppose) from 1993 I think you have quite a nice cruiser, and handbuilt classic.

[MartinD]

dubbs said:

Out of the two.... RS2 would be on my drive as a useful wagon.

Saying that V70R or Saab 95 Aero fantastic value.

V70R with 5 pot burble and 310bhp chip anyone? Also 10 years more modern

Have you ever heard a M5 ? ,6 pot burble & 340 bhp as standard.

[MartinD]

Futse said:

So the obvious choices are RS2 or M5 Touring. Or is there something else?

What are the positive and negative points of either car? Anyone have experience with one of them?

Thanks already for the help

Bram

We had the same choice 10 months ago, we now have a M5T
The 4wd was the only thing in the RS2's favour, apart from that the M5 was just better all round.

[dubbs]

Here's the thing for me...

ANY touring/estate is compromised therefore I have to curtail the expectations. If I had to have an estate and wanted ultimate performance then it would be the RS6.

If I was looking for a cult classic car, and it had to be an estate then it must be the RS2

If however I was on a budget and am trying to get the best car I can whilst still needing an estate then I'd probably go more for the Volvo/Saab knowing that they can handle well with minor fettling and produce good power with ECU upgrades.

I'd not recommend an RS2 or an M5 touring as a cheap performance option as they can cost a fortune to run if they go wrong... you need to be a committed owner.

[Futse]

Thanks for the answers guys. I've been reading, looking and thinking now, and the choice doesn't get easier.

Of course an estate is somewhat flawed as an ultimate performance machine, but that's not what I'm looking for. I'm looking for a (very) fast, (very) fun machine with a practical touch for the family/holidays. I have considered other cars, but the Volvo and Saab just aren't my thing, an RS4 or 6 is just too expensive to put on the road, and the E500 or E55 AMG were tempting, but very big engines, and are they available as a manual? I'm not sure about that one... Talking about the costs of purchase and ownership, well, RS2 and M5T fit in my budget, so not really looking for "cheaper" alternatives. And of course, if something goes wrong, it will be expensive, but here's hoping that nothing will... So again a question for you guys. Has anyone suffered reliability problems or are there any typical things that can go wrong?

Having said all this... the RS2 looks tempting (sorry to say that on the M-power forum ). I think it would feel really special to have one in my garage, so for the moment, I'm leaning towards the Audi (never thought I'd say that, not really an Audi-fan to be honest...)

[phatgixer]

E55AMG estate is worth a gander.