My car is a meticulously maintained '92 965 with 200K miles. I recently test-drove a certified pre-owned '03 BMW 540i with the M package (it's basically an M5 w/o the M engine) while my fiance was shopping for a new Z4 to replace her Tahoe. The difference in feel between the 540 and my 960 was night and day. The 540 felt absolutely rock-solid and made my 965 feel, well, really, really sloppy. I can't really describe the feeling other than, comparatively, the 965 tends to feel very loose and disconnected.

Although it has 200K miles, I completely rebuilt the front and rear suspension about 50K miles ago. I replaced shocks (with Turbogas up front and Nivos in back), all bushings (including all the pressed-in ones), all moving parts (including ball-joints, inner/outer tie rods, etc.), tires (Yokohama AVS dbs running on 16" Hydras), IPD swaybars, and new swaybar links. Essentially the only original parts in either the front or rear suspension are the springs, although they appear to check out in terms of ride height).

Now, I know I'm comparing apples and oranges, but should my 965 feel that pathetic compared to the bimmer? Is it just a product of the 960s (I've got an early one remember) suspension dating back to 1982? The 540 (~$50K) isn't in the cards at least for the next year or two, is there anything I can do in the interim to make the 960 more solid? I've checked through the suspension and nothing seems to appear worn or awry (no slop in any of the moving parts, shocks should still be green at 50K miles).
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Lance '92 965 w/ 200K miles