Price diff 95 m-sport and 540/6

[billy in slo]

Would like to move up(?) to a 540 man. for more power, want an m-sport just because but was wondering if a normal 540/6 spd was considerably less. Both seem hard to find. M-sport seem to fetch around 16k-19k. What about regular 540's.

[kyleN20]

you can find a decent 540-6 for about 10ish

[Jay 535i]

I think you can get a nice 540/6 for $12k, and I don't think the M-sport is worth paying more for. If you find one at a great price, great, but I wouldn't go out of my way or pay consideribly more for one.

The only improvements on the M-sport are the suspension (easily doable aftermarket), larger wheels and tires (ditto), larger front rotors, and some body kit that's included on most 6-speeders anyway.

I have a Car & Driver article here from 1996 comparing the 540i M-Sport and a Dinan Supercharged 540i 6-speed. They basically say that while the M-Sport costs US$8360 more than the base 540/6 (new, 1996 prices), that money is much better spent in the aftermarket. IMHO the same would apply to the used cars.

In fact, once I've turbocharged my 535 I'll be able to eat M5s for sub-540 money. With the $5k difference on the used market between a 540/6 and the M-Sport you could modify the regular car to make the M-Sport look like grandma's Geo.