BMW Touring - which one?

[milburn7191]

Hey guys

So unfortunately my pride and joy has been written off (cue the tears and violins), which leaves me with the predicament as to what to replace it with...?
My previous was a BMW e46 330d saloon with the manual gearbox and some optional extras including a nice remap. I loved it; plenty of power and ridiculous amounts of torque, I also averaged 40mpg even with my heavy right foot.
My only gripe with the saloon was the practicality of the bootspace, which is what has lead me to the e46 330d touring. I actually prefer the aesthetic of the touring over the saloon!
...but then as I was browsing the usually car sale websites I dropped on a few e39 530d sales.

I am struggling to decide between an e46 touring and an e39 touring...the 3.0 diesel with manual box is pretty much settled in my head, but reviews have said that the e39 is about 15% less efficient, so I should only expect 34mpg rather than 40?!

am I any more likely to have a major engine/turbo/injector failure with the 5 as I am with the 3?

Cheers chaps

[milburn7191]

Thanks Helix

[milburn7191]

louiebaby said:

The 5er has carpeted door pockets. I don't think the 3er does.

No more evidence required.

[milburn7191]

Well I found a lovely e39 530d for sale near me, I managed to barter the price down to £1900 so it was an absolute steal.
It is an auto rather than a manual but hopefully that will lighten my right foot and stop me purposefully going everywhere sideways...maybe

[milburn7191]

...thanks for the comments

And in case my opinion is worth anything i looked at some e60s aswell and personally I cannot say that they are worth 3 times the price

[milburn7191]

louiebaby said:

milburn7191 said:

Well I found a lovely e39 530d for sale near me, I managed to barter the price down to £1900 so it was an absolute steal.

My bad

[milburn7191]

it was great, loved it...lasted 6 weeks until the gearbox failed

so now I am breaking it for parts, so upsetting