Best Residual on a Big German?

[mozza42]

Looking at trading in my car - have between £10k-20k to spend on something reasonably quick, comfortable and economical.

Three cars are at the top of my 'finger in the air' costings over 3yrs and 45-60k miles later:

- 2007/2008 Audi A5 3.0tdi
- 2007 Mercedes CLS 320cdi
- 2007 BMW 530d SE (LCI model)

I'd quite like a CLS for the looks, but the spreadsheet based upon a current value of £12k at c.50k miles and a 3yr value of £6000 (reasonable for c.100k?) shows BMW to be the 'best' choice.

I'm not exactly comparing apples with apples here, but what of the three is going to have the lowest deprecation in monetary (not %) terms in the collective opinion?

And as this is a thinly veiled 'what car' thread - any suggestions or pointers to free fleet websites helpful.

[VinceFox]

M3

Ah gowan.

[SSBB]

Have you looked around inside? The CLS is very dated compared to the Audi and BMW. Nice, but a little old-fashioned. Depends what you normally go for.

[mozza42]

M3 - probably a little out of my reach in terms of running costs/MPG; would love to be in a position for something more interesting (and I have a Ducati for the bork-factor)...

CLS did seem nice (with COMAND only) but agree on the dated looks - going to view a few of the three this week to get an interior feel.

Comfort is high up the list hence no sport models, toys are also good (probably wouldn't condsider anything without NAV and nice screen/interface despite general uselessness)

Also seen an older model A6 Le Mans 3.0tdi at a smidge under £13k from a main dealer; it's the last of the line with the 'squarish' rear clusters so not sure if good on the residual front?

[mozza42]

Boing...