£20k budget, 300bhp daily, what would you go for?

[aturnick54]

On the hunt for a new daily car. After something reliable, practical (hatch or estate ideally, 4 door) and comfortable for long journeys but also good fun to drive. In other words, a great all rounder.

Budget of £20k, 300bhp and (at least) six cylinder would be nice.

[Hippea]

I know most will say they are compromised but I’d say for that budget and those requirements I’d go for a BMW M140i

They are a great all rounder and a performance bargain. Yes the chassis is highly compromised but as a great all round daily you can’t go wrong

[Calinours]

Range Rover TDV8 L322. Ticks all you boxes and more. More fun to drive than you can imagine - it doesn’t need to be sporty.

Spend £12-15k of your budget and keep the rest back for any big bills. You might get lucky.

[aturnick54]

Hippea said:

I know most will say they are compromised but I’d say for that budget and those requirements I’d go for a BMW M140i

They are a great all rounder and a performance bargain. Yes the chassis is highly compromised but as a great all round daily you can’t go wrong

I have had my eye on the 440i GC as the hatch is huge, although struggling to find one within budget without loads of miles on.

[aturnick54]

Calinours said:

Range Rover TDV8 L322. Ticks all you boxes and more. More fun to drive than you can imagine - it doesn’t need to be sporty.

Spend £12-15k of your budget and keep the rest back for any big bills. You might get lucky.

Interesting choice, and definitely a brave one

[Dr Interceptor]

A few options... A couple might stretch the budget a bit, and a couple are saloons, but have big boots.

Audi S4 https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/13715508

Insignia VXR: https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/14422495

Quattroporte: https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/14562247

M140i: https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/14411756

C43 AMG: https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/13265993

340i M Sport Touring: https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/14618123

[Baldchap]

The answer is a Mk7.5 Golf R 310.

A better everyday vehicle than most things at any budget, but definitely at that budget, despite 4 cylinders. My old one got a W12 Bentley sold on due to lack of use.

[r1ch]

Audi S4

[MB140]

Hippea said:

I know most will say they are compromised but I’d say for that budget and those requirements I’d go for a BMW M140i

They are a great all rounder and a performance bargain. Yes the chassis is highly compromised but as a great all round daily you can’t go wrong

I’ve got a 2016 m135i which I’ve had since new. Just reached 60k miles. Only issue a new battery last year.

I genuinely can’t think of what to replace it with. 5 door so practical. 300hp so fast as you will ever need. Returns 38-40 on the motorway on cruise at 70. Fold the backseats down and you can get a washing machine in there.

I’m following this to see what others suggest but I really really can’t thing of anything to replace my m135i with. Other than an M140i and the differences aren’t worth me changing.

[tombar]

For a fifth of that budget, a well looked after Lexus LS400 DHP. Still a practical, interesting and quick daily for me.

[Syzygy]

For that money you could get a pretty decent F80 335i touring.

Perfect all rounder

[aturnick54]

MB140 said:

I’ve got a 2016 m135i which I’ve had since new. Just reached 60k miles. Only issue a new battery last year.

I genuinely can’t think of what to replace it with. 5 door so practical. 300hp so fast as you will ever need. Returns 38-40 on the motorway on cruise at 70. Fold the backseats down and you can get a washing machine in there.

I’m following this to see what others suggest but I really really can’t thing of anything to replace my m135i with. Other than an M140i and the differences aren’t worth me changing.

Do you have any regrets going for a petrol? I'm looking at the 440i, which will get pretty much the same mpg as you on motorways. The 435d meanwhile gets 50mpg. I know you lose the noise and fun in a diesel, but they do seem far better on fuel

[TTR6]

Another vote for the M140. It's a very good engine and a hugely practical car, particularly in 5 door guise even though the rear legroom is limited for an adult. The shadow edition has a decent level of refinement and I can't think of anything else out there that I would replace it with.

[dave_s13]

I'm in a similar boat. We've already got a ford galaxy as the family bus and this is to replace an ageing nissan leaf. Even though we've got the bus I still want the other car to be able to fit 2 adults, 3 kids and a dog when we need it so things like boxsters, f-types etc are out.

At the moment I've booked it down to...

Hyundai i30N performance
BMW 440i or 335d gran coupe
A newer leaf

Car will only do about 8k miles per year max so although fuel consumption isn't a massive issue the apparanetly terrible i30n mpg is a little off putting. Also my Mrs prefers an auto.

The real world drivability of the 35d really appeals and to be honest that's where I'm heading I think. And yes less than 8k per year in a diesel will, according to PH, be the death of the car in theory. In reality I'm not sure I believe it. And the d appears to be efficient enough over the i that it still saves money at the pumps.

[vaud]

Jaguar XF 3.0s ? I just got one and it's a great ride, much better than the Audis and VWs that I have had of late, even running on 20" alloys.

[otolith]

Similar brief, I bought this. More legroom than the estate, hatchback.

[aturnick54]

dave_s13 said:

I'm in a similar boat. We've already got a ford galaxy as the family bus and this is to replace an ageing nissan leaf. Even though we've got the bus I still want the other car to be able to fit 2 adults, 3 kids and a dog when we need it so things like boxsters, f-types etc are out.

At the moment I've booked it down to...

Hyundai i30N performance
BMW 440i or 335d gran coupe
A newer leaf

Car will only do about 8k miles per year max so although fuel consumption isn't a massive issue the apparanetly terrible i30n mpg is a little off putting. Also my Mrs prefers an auto.

The real world drivability of the 35d really appeals and to be honest that's where I'm heading I think. And yes less than 8k per year in a diesel will, according to PH, be the death of the car in theory. In reality I'm not sure I believe it. And the d appears to be efficient enough over the i that it still saves money at the pumps.

It'd be interesting to see the economy difference between the 440i and 435d. Not just from an mpg perspective, but from a price per mile perspective (or annual running cost). I'm in the same boat, I do around 9k miles a year. Mostly around town but when I do a long trip it's to the south of France all on motorway which is where the 435d would be ideal.

[aturnick54]

vaud said:

Jaguar XF 3.0s ? I just got one and it's a great ride, much better than the Audis and VWs that I have had of late, even running on 20" alloys.

How are the Jag petrols for reliability? I'm shying away from the diesel engines as they're known for chain issues.

[SteveR1979]

335i
435i

[dave_s13]

aturnick54 said:

It'd be interesting to see the economy difference between the 440i and 435d. Not just from an mpg perspective, but from a price per mile perspective (or annual running cost). I'm in the same boat, I do around 9k miles a year. Mostly around town but when I do a long trip it's to the south of France all on motorway which is where the 435d would be ideal.

https://youtu.be/slLfmV4MpFs

Good video there of a comparison between the latest 40d/i which shows a 30% efficiency advantage for the deisel. Which still makes it cheaper to fuel given the price differential.