coupe vs 'vert with hardtop

[Crash48]

Hello to all out there in R3Vland... I'm searching for a late model E30 in Atlantic Canada or possibly Maine - there are no decent sedans or coupes available on CL or Kijiji so far but there are a couple of convertibles around and even one with a hardtop. If I can't find a coupe would a convertible with a hardtop be a good alternative... or should I widen my search geography and deal with the extra expense of airfare, hotels etc.

This will be a third vehicle for me... daily foul weather runner is a '00 CR-V - for the late spring, summer and early fall when it's not pissing down rain I ride an '87 Honda Transalp. Last year my wife took over the family cottage and so takes the car 3/4/5 days each week. I want to keep up my father/grandfather lifestyle of picking of kids and dogs for daily outings without shuttling the bike an hour each way to the cottage to pick up the car so that's where the want/need arises... also there are occasions where I want four wheels and a roof for 500km business trips around the province for those weeks when the rain rules the road.

Any/all suggestions and comments greatly appreciated : )

[mcaden]

I have both a vert with hardtop and an "is." You need to drive them both because there is a big difference in my opinion. The body of the "is" is much more rigid and tighter. The vert just can't be pushed in the same way, but is simply a pleasure to drive on sunny day. I sometimes think of the vert as a GT cruiser. Naturally, there are many things u can do to try to give the body of a vet more rigidity (x brace, etc.), but first decide if u really want the top down. Drive them first.

[SmokeE30]

Hello to all out there in R3Vland... I'm searching for a late model E30 in Atlantic Canada or possibly Maine - there are no decent sedans or coupes available on CL or Kijiji so far but there are a couple of convertibles around and even one with a hardtop. If I can't find a coupe would a convertible with a hardtop be a good alternative... or should I widen my search geography and deal with the extra expense of airfare, hotels etc.

This will be a third vehicle for me... daily foul weather runner is a '00 CR-V - for the late spring, summer and early fall when it's not pissing down rain I ride an '87 Honda Transalp. Last year my wife took over the family cottage and so takes the car 3/4/5 days each week. I want to keep up my father/grandfather lifestyle of picking of kids and dogs for daily outings without shuttling the bike an hour each way to the cottage to pick up the car so that's where the want/need arises... also there are occasions where I want four wheels and a roof for 500km business trips around the province for those weeks when the rain rules the road.

Any/all suggestions and comments greatly appreciated : )

Well I prefer the coupes and sedans over the verts in terms of driving but as stated the verts are still a nice car to drive just less performance oriented and more for looking good. Also I will tell you the hard top for the very is probably worth $1,000 by itself and if I were to get a vert that would be a requirement of mine

[Crash48]

Thanks guys... I'll test drive the one with the hardtop - it's an '87 325i automatic with 150k miles.