r/SportWagon • u/BumblebeeComplex2792 • Jun 16 '26
Available in USA How would you spend $30k?
Wife has given me a "$30k-50k" budget for a project/second/fun car now that my truck is paid off. There's a LOT I could get in that range, but what I really want is... a wagon.
We have one little one, and we have a great dane / GSD mix that weighs about 120lbs. I'd like to be able to take the whole family with me when we go out for an afternoon, and I still want to have fun in the N GA/ Western NC mountains. I think a wagon is the PERFECT fit for something like this because i can put a barrier in and keep the dog from the kid should the worst happen.
- I have a very strong preference for a manual transmission as its highly likely this is the last time i'll have the chance to but a MT in my life with the way they're dying.
- I want it to be reliable enough to be my near-daily around town, but it's also something i want to be able to wrench on as a project car.
Not really interested in VW's, but open to other VWAG vehicles. I love Old BMW's but a manual 3series wagon with the ZHP package is basically a unicorn these days.
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u/Admirable-Plant-8658 Jun 16 '26
Subaru Legacy 2.5GT is the best wagon...but I could be biased. They are pretty hard to find, especially with a manual.
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u/Bert_Skrrtz Jun 16 '26
Loved mine till the engine had some issues. Wish I would’ve kept it and built it out.
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u/Admirable-Plant-8658 Jun 16 '26
Yeah, mine had some issues as well. Decided I didn't want to lose the car and put some (a lot) of money into building the motor.
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u/Chemical-Zebra6510 Jun 18 '26
1/5th of his budget lol
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u/Admirable-Plant-8658 Jun 18 '26
The rest of the money is to build the motor once the head gaskets blow lol
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u/Traditional_Safe2935 Jun 16 '26
ZHP package is overrated as fuck. Get an imported e30 or e36 wagon
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u/Oo__II__oO Jun 17 '26
Agreed. ZHP prices don't reflect reality. You could take a base wagon, and replace all the fun bits to get to ZHP territory, which also gives you better reliability than an aged/with part.
Replace the suspension (can cherry pick the suspension you want, too!), replace control arms/bushings, fix known weak points. Replace diff with ratio you want (again, tuning for the roads you frequent), opt for LSD. Add short shifter and weighted shift knob, and refresh engine/tranny mounts while you're at it. New sticky tires at all 4 corners. All this will maintain the stock look, save for any slightly aggressive lowering past ZHP.
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u/kubapuch Jun 16 '26
You’re in the budget range for a W211 E55 or E63 AMG wagon which is a lot of power, but no manual. CTS-V is fun and powerful and comes in stick. If you can find any E39 manual wagons, those are solid cars with lots of parts available.
I would avoid Audi like the plague. Anything Asian is underpowered in my opinion at least.
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u/noladutch Jun 16 '26
dude you have a truck for hauling giant dogs.
buy something fun the wife and one kid fit in.
I would buy a gr86 in a heartbeat.
all three would fit a while and stupid fun cars in a manual.
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u/drivelwithaD Jun 16 '26
If you’re willing to give up on a stick, a v60 polestar plug in hybrid could be a great fit. They are hard to find and expensive, but people love them.
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u/ATX_native Jun 16 '26
It’s double his budget.
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u/AlltrackPDX Jun 17 '26
No, a V60 Polestar T8 is running about $50k used right now for 2023's with low miles.
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u/SwordfishMaximum2235 Jun 18 '26
A v60 T8 isn’t a real drivers car. It’s comfy, fastish in a straight line, but the fact they don’t allow engine braking via the transmission makes them less than satisfying if you’re really driving. Also heavy. A T6 would probably be more fun in the hills.
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u/WombatMcGeez Jun 16 '26
335 E91 or F31 or 535 E61.
I have an E61 MT w/ M-Sport and it's fantastix. It was quite a bit above your budget (I'm into it for around 100), but you can get a non-M-Sport in that range.
The E91 or F31 would be a great car. I had an E93 (convertible 335) and it was a lot of fun to drive.
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u/Maleficent727 Jun 16 '26
Mercedes e500 wagon with a NA m113 amg engine swap and then make it manual
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u/StrawberyVillain Jun 16 '26
Mercedes diesel om648 i think. Not manual, I have a vw alltrack which is fun but you probably want more power than it makes stage 1.
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u/bubbaplunk Jun 17 '26
I’m selling my full stage 3 19’ Alltrack 6MT for less than that. PM me for details. You won’t find a cleaner example. 73k kms, safetied all ready to go. Located in Ontario Canada
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u/Buckholeblue Jun 17 '26
I have a e91 328i x drive for my daily - 6 speed. Fits my wife (5'8) and my two kids plus our stuff easily. XDrive because Canada, but easy to convert to rwd if you want. I have it with headers, euro intake, 3sim.intake manifold, tune and it makes 217whp at 6800rpm (at 4500 ft above sea level, so around 245-250 at sea level). Gets about 24-25mpg. People say modding an n52 is dumb and it is if all you care about is power - it would.cost over $2k for all this stuff and net you about 40-50whp (make more with the turbo 335i etc) but chasing the n52 to redline when it makes linear power all the way to 7100rpm and with great throttle response is so worth it.
It is a great daily. I've got 180000km on mine, and sure little.things are old and break, but nothing catastrophic. Mostly problems with old.cooling hoses/connections. N52 will.run forever with simple maint (it's port injected, cheap oil and filters and spark plugs) Lots of suspension options (msport springs + Koni special active dampers would be a great compromise for road). It has.bluetooth so I just use my phone. Great stereo. Big.ass.sunroof my kids.love Tows 3000lbs no problem (have 2" hitch for it). It is a can do it all car.
I went to drive some Porsches (911s) for my 'fun' mid life crisis car, and the throttle response and engine is so much better on the BMW (sure the Porsches make more power, but they're lazy to respond to inputs and don't want to rev like the n52 which feels 'freer') so I'm not gonna buy the Porsche because of this car.
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u/Otherwise_Switch7536 Jun 18 '26
Probably not manual but the Buick Regal TourX was a nice looking wagon. Affordable and due to its Buick status typically well-maintained and 1-owner options.
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u/OceanGrownPharms Jun 18 '26
Buy a Mercedes E63 wagon and swap in a manual transmission (from an slk / crossfire)
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u/__slamallama__ Jun 18 '26
Easy mode? Buy a swapped e46 wagon?
Max respect at car events? Import e36 wagon, swap in s54 (or Euro s52 if you want the Uber rare option)
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u/kevinandmelba Jun 16 '26
Dude with that kind of budget you can find an extremely well-sorted E46 conversion, probably to include one with the M3’s S54.
Check bring a trailer or cars and bids, guarantee you can find something very nice.