The point about reliability has got to be put to rest at this stage, they are all very old cars at this stage and it's down to how they've been kept. M44's are just as likely to go bang and even the Almighty s50 engines have horror stories that come from negligent owners. I have one of those dreaded nikasil engines that has pushed out 207bhp on the rolling road before and also doesn't burn a drop of oil and that is no exaggeration: I have never in my ownership had to top up the oil.

Are 323's worth it? Yea I think so, I wouldn't spend much time pondering over wanting more power or less. Do I want six cylinder noise in my life? Yea I do and when it's echoing down mountain roads on the right day It's a very good thing.

I'm not knocking m44's btw, i think they excellent cars. I always love driving them and find them great fun but the above still applies.