Acura. Lexus. Porsche is better than BMW or Mercedes or Audi, but it’s also more expensive. But if you can swing it, a Porsche 911 is a bloody fine car. And if you want something bigger there’s always the Panamera, but those start at 85 grand so you might consider a lightly used one.
All that aside, while it’s definitely slower than the offerings from Porsche, the Acura TLX is a really good blend of enjoyable to drive and reliability while being a lot less expensive than the Porsche.
Audi is known for outstanding interiors and is reliable according to Consumer Reports. A lot depends on whether you want RWD or AWD or not. Lexus IS very reliable, but the handling is not up to the competition. You should decide how much you want to spen, then on the size you want, the features you want, and then drive the cars on the short list. We can write all night , but how you feel behind the wheel is the deciding factor.
And quite possibly never name a vehicle that you would want , like or meet your needs.
I know I want a car that is fun to drive and looks nice. Of course, reliability is great too.
I want a car the size of the 2000 328 BMW coupe like I have now. I love this car, it’s just falling apart.
I want a coupe.
I have no idea if I want RWD or AWD. I don’t drive in the snow and it isn’t super rainy here these days, but it can get rainy in the winter.
I drove the BMW 2 series and it’s too small and felt kind of flimsy in comparison to my current car. I like the 430 coupe. The Audi was fun to drive and had better sensors on the side, but I can’t see well out of the back. So far I like the BMW 430 the best.
I really appreciate your help
While you’re at it, take a look at the Mercedes Benz C-Class AMG C43. It’s about the same price as the 440iX.
I think my local Toyota dealership has free coffee in their waiting room too… but I’ve never had to hang out there! 
The only time you need to see “well” out the back is when you’re backing up, and that’s what the backup camera is for. 
These waiting rooms must be as large as a church to accommodate the number of BMW owners in my area if they really must visit the service department for hours each month. They have loan vehicles available for customers but I see many more Lexus loan cars on the road than BMW or Mercedes, perhaps the BMW owners don’t object to taking the bus.
Is there an advantage to AWD if you don’t drive in snow?
I’m looking at 430 BMW, not 440. I don’t want to spend that much.
I like the feel of a sporty car, but want to be able to get out of it easily wearing heels and a skirt. I think a 911 is low for that.
I appreciate your help
AWD is a performance enhancement in low traction conditions - rain, snow, ice. OR if you are buying a VERY powerful car it helps dry pavement traction when accelerating. But we are talking over 300 HP, or so, in a front wheel drive car or more than about 400 HP in a rear wheel drive car. Does nothing for braking. Does little for cornering.
But carrying that extra weight and driving all the extra parts will slow the car’s acceleration and decrease your fuel economy. As the car ages, it increase the cost of maintenance, too.
It seems you’ve tried both the 4 and 2 series BMW coupes, and the 6 series is probably too big to be similar to your 328.
And presuming you’ve tried the A5 and S5 Audi coupes, it seems you’re left with the C
and E class coupes from Mercedes if you want to stay with German makes.
As for fun to drive, that is personal, so it sounds like you need to check a little more for the combination of weight, power, handling, etc that you like in your 2000 328.
This OP has other threads and basically is not pleased with the cost of service they had with this current worn out BMW. Why they are looking at the same type of cars is puzzling. There are so many vehicles on the market that are fun to drive and will not empty your checking account for normal service.
What did Einstein say about continuing the same behaviors, but expecting a different outcome each time?
Hmmmmm…
If at first you don’t succeed try again? Whoops,not 
I believe the OP said she enjoyed her 328 for quite a while, and it finally cost too much to keep. It seems like she has the money to buy a new BMW 430i or equivalent car, and hopes to duplicate the good times with the 328 coupe. I had the same decision with my 2005 Accord, and decided to buy another Accord. You guys like Accords, and probably think it was a reasonable choice. Why pick on her for buying a car she has had success with?
Thanks Mustangman for explaining AWD.
Thanks Jtsanders for your understanding. This car is 18 years old and I’ve had it for 18 years!
I have loved it. It’s getting old and has a lot wrong with it now.
I was considering keeping it until the paint guy said it was time to get rid of it. It would take a lot of money to fix all that is wrong so it makes more sense to use that money for a down payment.
I’m not good with change. It’s hard enough buying a new car. I’d have to really love a different car to change from BMW. But I’m looking!
I might try leasing this time. My accountant says that’s better for my taxes. Then it’s under warranty and I hear at the end of 3 years you can get a 5 year warranty from BMW if I want to keep it.
I really appreciate your help
If you work for yourself, you might be able to expense a lease. I have a neighbor in that situation, and he had a 750iL and now a 400 series. He gets a new car every few years, and I imagine he leases. Test drive that C300 Benz. Reliability is good, but not quite up to the E-series reliability. If you can afford to go $60,000, check out the E400 coupe.
And terrible for your equity. Every dime you pay for the lease buys you zero equity in the vehicle. At the end of the lease, the company gets it back and you have nothing, zero, zip, nada. A lease is nothing but a long term rental agreement. Financially you’re far better long term to buy a vehicle, maintain it properly, and keep it until it’s no longer reliable or safe.
Example: I bought my car in 2005. I maintain it well and it’s still reliable and safe. And I haven’t made a payment in many years. All those payments that I haven’t made have allowed me to retire. It’s all money in my pocket. And I continue to NOT make payments, pocketing the money. If I’d leased, I’d have been making car payments for all these years and still be stuck with car payments.
Oh, and leases come with limits. Like annual mileage limitations.
And if you get a ding or dent you’ll HAVE to pay to get it fixed professionally either when it happens or when you turn the car in. I don’t even worry about that.
And my car was under warranty when I bought it too. All new cars are.
Your accountant either told you what you wanted to hear or didn’t tell you the whole story.
Maybe after you get a new car you should think about getting a new accountant.
Unless, of course, you’re getting the car under a corporate identity. If so, the accounting is entirely different and a lease can make sense.
@Sammmie If a BMW is really all that important to you then you should be at BMW forums . If you think a change is OK then do like I said before, go to every brand web site and look at what is out there. You will see every option they have and if you build one the locator feature will find ones close to the build near you. It will also have the warranty coverage , it is the same leased or purchased.
Because 18 years ago BMW hadn’t put 50,000 badly-designed electronics into their cars. Pretty hard to screw up an off-the-shelf radio and speakers. Now you can expect random blackouts of the entire entertainment/nav/climate control stack because it’s set up so that if any one module has a problem, all of them crash. You can also expect bad battery performance if it’s cold, and you can expect annoying things like power liftgates refusing to close for no reason. None of these things were problems 18 years ago because 18 years ago the most complicated toy they put in the center console was an integrated cell phone.
We’re not picking on OP, we’re trying to let OP know that she is not going to be able to get a new version of her old car, because the company that made that car has gone insane.