I'm not sure what you mean by "nice", but the '02 handles beautifully. You might be right about it being "nice" around town and for daily driving. But on the twisties, the '02 wins hands down. It's like an overgrown go kart. With an m42, proper gearing and suspension, I can't imagine anything more FUN!
I've gotta respectfully disagree. The e30 chassis is better. Think of it as the final, well tuned from the factory evolution of the 2002. Its stiffer, has better suspension geometry and is not too much heavier. Both use rear semi trailing arms, but the e30 is so much more capable of putting power to the ground.
Don't get me wrong, both can be made to handle and perform very well, but the e30 has the edge. All that said, 02s are just plain awesome and simple to work on. If living with one as a daily driver was as easy as the e30, I'd still have my 2002.
About the M42-into-2002 transplant: Up until recently people really shied away from this because it was supposed to be a difficult swap with relatively little performance increase. But recently it seems like a lot of people are tackling this, so I dunno. I'd also consider megasquirting the m10 or going with an m20 swap, but this is the wrong forum to take those discussions any further!