Quick & comfy £30k

[Lozw86]

Hi. After a comfortable cruiser with a bit of go, but nothing silly. Must do 35+ mpg

I’m looking at the following:

E class saloon
S class

5 series saloon
6 gran coupe
7 series

Audi A6, 7 & 8

With 3 litre petrol or Diesel engines

Car is to be purchased and kept for 10 years

For most of the above £30k seems to get you a 2018 model or newer, with 25k miles or less

Are the full size execs a pain to park and in multi storeys etc?

Not interested in M / AMG / RS models, but would consider other sensible alternatives

Any thoughts or ownership experiences welcome

[ZX10R NIN]

E43 AMG

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202008102...

S7

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202006190...

BiTDI A7

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202007281...

XJ Autobiography 3.0d

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202008202...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202008202...

Supercharged V6 XJ

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202008262...

[tomsugden]

ZX10R NIN said:

S7

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202006190...

I'd be amazed if this can regularly crack 35mpg. My S5 struggles to get into the 30s and is 1000cc and 2 cylinders less than the S7.

[raspy]

Lozw86 said:

Hi. After a comfortable cruiser with a bit of go, but nothing silly. Must do 35+ mpg

What happens if you find a car you like but it only does 33mpg average in the real world?

[Mouse Rat]

I doubt any of the petrols would average above 35mpg.
However a 530e is very comfortable, quick and depending on your journey and when you charge it will get 37 to potentiality hundreds of mpg.

[Pistonheader101]

The new 540i does a real world 42mpg

[FlyingPanda]

I’ve been running a 2017 530d M Sport for the last three years and it really has been superb. Amazing to see that high spec ones like mine (X Drive, all the toys) are going for mid-£20ks, which looks like a bargain.

I was seeing 48mpg most of the time (but I do a lot of motorway stuff) and occasionally saw over 700 miles from a tank.

Interesting that you asked about Multi-storey car parks though, they were the one time I got frustrated with the length of it (easy now...). I had to go into those old 1960’s multi-storeys far more than I’d like, and it was always about a foot too long. Not just for the spaces themselves, but on those curved access roads it’s really hard to avoid kerbing a wheel (and they’re diamond-cut alloys that can’t be repaired) so that was a pain.

The boot is huge, the ride is excellent, it shifts a bit and it handles well. I’d recommend them as more of a driver’s car than the E Class, but that might be a shade more comfortable (and probably even bigger).

Hope that helps!

[Chainsaw Rebuild]

A diesel 3 series will get good MPG, be a bit smaller for parking and still be comfy and brisk?

[ahenners]

FlyingPanda said:

I’ve been running a 2017 530d M Sport for the last three years and it really has been superb. Amazing to see that high spec ones like mine (X Drive, all the toys) are going for mid-£20ks, which looks like a bargain.

I was seeing 48mpg most of the time (but I do a lot of motorway stuff) and occasionally saw over 700 miles from a tank.

Interesting that you asked about Multi-storey car parks though, they were the one time I got frustrated with the length of it (easy now...). I had to go into those old 1960’s multi-storeys far more than I’d like, and it was always about a foot too long. Not just for the spaces themselves, but on those curved access roads it’s really hard to avoid kerbing a wheel (and they’re diamond-cut alloys that can’t be repaired) so that was a pain.

The boot is huge, the ride is excellent, it shifts a bit and it handles well. I’d recommend them as more of a driver’s car than the E Class, but that might be a shade more comfortable (and probably even bigger).

Hope that helps!

There's an approved used 2017 530d xdrive with the m sport plus pack near me currently for £24k. Looks like a bargain, especially in the current climate where the used car market has prices all over the place.

[FlyingPanda]

ahenners said:

There's an approved used 2017 530d xdrive with the m sport plus pack near me currently for £24k. Looks like a bargain, especially in the current climate where the used car market has prices all over the place.

Yes, that would have been a £54k car, so really good value now. I think they’re good looking too...

[MacR8A5]

I bought a 740LD X Drive last year. Its a car that listed at just over 100K new, had 4,000 miles on, and I got it for just under 48K.
It can get up to 50 mpg, but usually low to mid 40's, on a decent run.
Its big, very comfortable, has loads of room and is very well equiped.
If you need a lot of room have a look at one, something like this may fit the bill.....

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202006270...

[Lozw86]

Thanks for the replies

That 7 series looks great, exactly the sort of thing I’m interested in. What a lot of car for the money

I have had an F30 3 series and F25 x3 so am familiar and fond of BMW’s. The 30d unit in my x3 was great, so I imagine the 40d is very strong

I wonder if there’s much difference in economy 30d vs 40d? Anything to look out for on a 7 series of this type and age?

[Lozw86]

I like the 5 series but fear I may still hanker for the full size 7. The seats in the 7 series and S class look fantastic.

The back seats seem to come in normal or limousine configuration. Does only the normal configuration have 3 rear seats?