[NiceNotRiceBMW]

My brother is currently in the market for a new BMW. I currently have a 328i sportline. He's looking at either an Msport sedan or a coupe. It made me really think and question which one is rather have. What's everyone opinions on this:

Cosmetically
Practicality
Performance
Value
Reliability
Resale value down the line a couple years
Perks?

Which would you rather have?

[SamS]

Well the coupe is from the E9x generation, so the electronics and interior are circa-2005. That should be the determining factor, right there. Is he OK with an effectively 7 year old car, or one that is 12 months old (F30 sedan)?

[Ron Scott]

Never a fan of the 2-door, regardless of model.

[midnight express]

wait for f32 or get an f30, the e92 resale will drop like a rock once the f32 comes. unless he is leasing, then it does not matter. i prefer f30, until the f32 comes!

[hans007]

well....

i've had 1 coupe ever (a 2005 G35 coupe). after i got past the whole "its a 2 door and cool" thing i realized it was really not that great.

i would imagine the difference is the same with an F30 vs say equivalent coupe (f32).

i dont really think coupes necessarily look better, though in the e92 case it looked al ot nicer than the E90 (which was just too boring when it came out and seemed a little oddly proportioned). that said the F30 is longer and i think looks a lot nicer than the e90. and the F32 isnt out yet.

performance is going to be the same, value is obviously worse with a coupe, and reliability and perks or whatever are probably the same.

honestly for me i have enough friends that it is irritating having to do the whole get in the back of my coupe seat dance not to mention trying to get larger items into a coupe is annoying and the less rear visibility. i dont like paying a lot more for less doors too.

i tihnk an e92 coupe even now is still probably $1000 or so more than equivalent f30 sedan. i'd get the sedan (well i got mine on wednesday.... ) , but some people really love coupes, so yeah

[Mark_K]

If he's a fan of technology in cars (none of which has anything to do with driving the car), just tell him to NOT test drive E92. If he wants something more, then it gets complicated.

It gets complicated because F32 is just about to be released. Well, we are still talking early fall 2013 for full production model presentation, but what it will drive like when compared to E92 is still quite a bit away.

I, for one, would not switch my E92 for F30. I might so that with F32 after I drove it.

[JamesonWhiskey]

Originally Posted by SamS

Well the coupe is from the E9x generation, so the electronics and interior are circa-2005. That should be the determining factor, right there. Is he OK with an effectively 7 year old car, or one that is 12 months old (F30 sedan)?

Wish i knew this before getting my car last week! still love it though as it's my first BMW

Also... does he want stick and AWD? If so, the coupe is his only option for the 328. Otherwise he has to go to the 335. That was my biggest deciding factor.

[EB_F30]

One word...kids. Does he have kids? My last 5 cars have all been coupes and even though my kids never rode in them much, it was a pain if they did. Now that they are older (5 and 7) we take them a lot more places...now I wont mind since I will be driving my new 335.

[mynycbimmer]

I had a similar dilemma, F30, E92 or wait for the F32.

I didn't like the look and feel of the F30 and there were too many unknowns about the F32 (price, availability date), so I went with the E92. Still a great looking and handling car, and being in the final year of production all the kinks should be ironed out. The only new feature of the F30 I would have been interested is the HUD which looks pretty cool.

I've been really pleased with the car so far, and when I saw the partially exposed F32 pics I felt even better about my decision, I didn't think it looked that different from the E92. However, the concept F32 is another story, it is looks amazing. If the production car looks like that and the pricing is similar I might have some regret in a year's time.

[NiceNotRiceBMW]

Just wanna thank everyone for your thoughts and help. Now that the f32 concept is out, it's even harder to make a decision. I'm thinking the f32 will be worth the wait, if only to at least test drive it and compare. Car looks pretty amazing

[jrob]

I would wait a year and then make your decision based on what the 4-series ends up turning out like. I personally prefer 4 doors as it is much more practical and unless the 4-series has an dramatic advantages over the current 3-series I personally wouldn't see a point in paying the extra money. Now a 4-series gran coupe....I could live with that.

[JamesMA]

I went 4 doors and no regrets here. Sporty, but with the F30, I can get an adult or a kid in the back. I would have gotten an M3 if I could have fit in the back.