This next car checks the all boxes; manual gearbox, check. Wagon, check. Inline-6, check. Rear-wheel-drive, check. Headliner...errr...that's missing....and the miles are high, so you will need to do some tidying before you let the wife drive it...but manual transmission rear-drive wagons don't grow on trees. Find this 1992 BMW 525iT offered for $6500 in Long Beach, CA via craigslist. Tip from Rock On!
A new BMW 3-series offers a boat load of technology, safety, performance, and gadgets for aspiring executive (or trust fund high schooler). You get the latest direct injection 4-cylinder engine that is boosted with a small turbocharger (or two?...I really don't know or care to find out) and all manner of lane departure warning systems and self leveling wheel caps...but what you can't get is a wagon or a manual gearbox in a 3-series. BMW...I don't know you anymore. Meh..you haven't cared about my opinion since I swore off buying new cars decades ago and have lived an autotrader/craigslist/offerup dream life...but I'm gonna miss the 3-series in about 10 years when the depreciated ones are all fitted with some kinda 8 speed slushbox flappy paddle gearbox and powered by a beryllium warp core and the steering wheel has been replaced with a joystick. I think I now know why I've preferred the company of geezers since I was a young lad. New digital tech is weaksauce and experience cannot be googled or found on twitter. GET OFF MY LAWN! Find this 2007 BMW 328i Wagon offered for $9500 near Hudson Valley via craigslist. Tip from Cory.
I hate to say it...but the Z33 generation Nissan 350Z hasn't aged well at all. The interior surface coatings are about as durable as the coating on an M&M and the interior design (eg gauge color) has aged about as well as Miley Cyrus. Sure...there are some people who might find it attractive, but even Liam Hemsworth ditched his wrecked one for a new model. However, they do offer a decent level of performance and can be had with a 6-speed manual gearbox and a rag top. Find this 2004 Nissan 350Z here on eBay offered for $11,600 in Chaplin, SC.
The BMW 2002 was only sold in two door sedan configuration in the USA - while Europeans and others could purchase the cool looking Touring edition. The 2002 Touring was more of a hatch-back and less of a station wagon, but it ads a lot more headroom and a functional rear hatch to the diminutive BMW 2002. In an extraordinary coincidence, I spotted one roaming the wild streets of Southern California just yesterday and then tipper Erik202 sent in this super cheap example. Find this 1973 BMW 2002 Touring offered for $6,800 CAD ($5155 USD) located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada via Kijiji.
Yeah...I know. You could get an E46 M3 with fewer digits flipped on the odo, and you could get a high mileage STI or Legacy GT Wagon for the same pile of dough...but this car calls to the people who remember when BMW built the best luxury/sport wagons with manual gearboxes on the planet. Those days are LONG gone...and the manual gearbox has become a punchline and an anti-theft device...BUT if I had to pick ONE car to daily drive this car every single day of my driving life...it'd look a lot like this 2008 BMW 328i E91 wagon offered for $12,500 in Richmond, VA via craigslist. Tip from Jeff.
There is an old Latin saying: de gustibus non est disputandum, which means "in matters of taste, there can be no disputes." Now, those old Latin dudes were good at building aqueducts, designing the calendar, and minting coins with their faces on them...but did they really expect us to believe that there isn't an objective perfect (a paradigm of beauty, perhaps) in this world? Ha! And to prove it, I'm going to let you guys tell me if this next car is awesome or awful. Find this 2000 BMW 540iT 6-Speed offered for an undisclosed chunk of cash somewhere near Chicago, IL via craigslist. Tip from FuelTruck.
The E39 generation of BMW's M5 brought V8 power and much needed injection of torque to the big 5-series bruiser in 1998. The M5 was available as a sedan, but BMW never released a properly awesome wagon version, so you had a settle for a 540i if you wanted the dog friendly rear space...however, somebody solved that problem with this next car. Find this 2000 BMW M5 Touring offered for $24999 in Costa Mesa, CA via craigslist. Tip from Sean S who asked if we can bend the $20k rule for once...yes!
BMW started producing their 5-series executive class sedan way back in 1972, but it wasn't until 1991 that they added the wagon version, which they called the touring. And if you ask certain minimalist dudes/ladies around the world they will claim that the 90s BMWs offered the best combination of simplicity, usability, and non-computer aided driving experience. Find this 1999 BMW 528i Touring offered for $2700 in Crown Hill, WA via craigslist. Tip from FuelTruck.
The E91 BMW was part of the E90/E91/E92/E93 generation of BMWs 3-series was introduced in the 2006 model year for the USA with a number of sweet sounding inline-6s. It was the last generation of BMW's iconic compact executive sedan to use a conventional hydraulic steering assist (electric power steering = yuck!) and naturally aspirated inline-6 engines. Find this 2006 BMW 325xi Touring offered for $10,995 in Seattle, WA via craigslist. Tip from Patrick.
The BMW 2002 Touring hatchback was sold in Europe starting in 1971 and while it might look like it shares most sheet metal with the
standard 2002, but the front windshield is raked back at a steeper angle
and uses taller glass all around. Of the 30,000 Touring models
produced (71-74) none were sold new in North America, so you'll
need to find an imported version, which usually demand big bucks. Find this 1972 BMW 2002 Touring offered for $15,500 in Austin, TX via craigslist. 
Buick was founded in 1899 as a small engine manufacturer, but chief-engineer Walter Marr built a few vehicles in the early years before it was absorbed into General Motors in 1908. By 1918 the Buick lineup consisted of nine different models including this 1918 Buick Model E-Four-35 offered for $4,000 in Lacey, WA via craigslist. This
post is part of DT's 2016 Birthday Celebration of 100 cars;
enjoy the ride!
Do you dream of driving around a pre-war classic touring car and having people ask you; Is that a Model T? To which you to scoff and reply...I'd never drive a Ford, this is a Hupmobile, now pump my gas, peasant! Find this 1917 Hupmobile Model N Touring offered for $19,995 in Walnut Creek, CA via craigslist. This
post is part of DT's 2016 Birthday Celebration of 100 cars;
enjoy the ride!
For years I embarrassed myself by calling and wishing my Canadian friends (and family) a happy Independence Day or happy Thanksgiving on the wrong day of the year. They would apologize profusely and explain that they were at work, and that Canadian Thanksgiving and Freedom Day were on a different day from the American calendar. Imagine my surprise! This year, however, I did some research, and found out that the Canadian calendar flips from back-to-front and doesn't even have 12 months in the year! And even more shocking is that Christmas is celebrated on Dec 30th each year. Anyway -- Sorry, It's Christmas, and have this 2004 Acura EL Touring Sedan offered for $5,000CAD ($3,613 USD) in Toronto, ON via Kijiji.ca.
The E34 generation BMW 5-series replaced in the E28 for the 1988 model year and featured (for the North American market) a variety of inline-6 engines for your motoring needs. A V8 version was offered starting in 1993, but the muted howl of the inline-6 is more than adequate for your driving needs...especially when mated to a manual gearbox. Find this 1992 BMW 525i Wagon with M54 swap offered for $3,200 in the SF Valley, CA via craigslist.
Everybody wants to claim they were the first to do something. It doesn't matter that the good old USA was first to put a man on the moon in 1969, because the Ruskies can say they were the first to put an object on the moon with their Luna 2 mission in 1959, and the Chinese will point out that Shi Shen (4th century BC) was the first to accurately predict lunar eclipses -- so where does this leave us? The point is, you don't have to be first to leave a lasting impression, you just have to be a badass about it. BMW may not have built the first hot hatch when they built the Touring version of their successful 2000 Tii on the New Class platform, but they did a fantastic job. Find this 1973 BMW 2000 Tii TOURING here on eBay
currently bidding for $21,000 reserve-not-met with 7 days to go, located in Laguna Beach, CA.
When Admiral Motti gets lippy with Darth Vader in Episode IV of Star Wars, the Sith lord starts choking the insubordinate Death Star XO and utters the quotable line "I find your lack of faith disturbing." I'm no Jedi knight, but whenever I see a European import without license plates in California I put on my best James Earl Jones impersonation and say "I find your lack of plates disturbing." Find this 1989 BMW 324TD Wagon E30 diesel offered for $13,500 via craigslist.
At the turn of the century, the Catfish Camaro was ready for an 8-year hiatus from its noodling adventures, GM started promising that Australia's raucous Holden Monaro would leave the outback behind for endless Saturday-night cruises as the Pontiac GTO, and the BMW E39 Touring was shuttling the upper half's offspring to lacrosse practices in America's wealthy 'burbs. Somehow, those global forces and moods have coagulated into the rocket sled you see here, and it's ready to haul your bags of woodchip mulch in stoic class, or at least make you ponder trans-continental market behavior. Find this 1999 BMW 528i Touring with 5.3L Vortec "LS1" for $6,000 in Greenville, SC. Words by DT contributor slowcarSLOW-MPGlol.