Do it all daily sub £15k?

Original Poster

321 posts

137 months

Sunday 5th July 2020

Hi folks,

Currently have an '07 BMW 530i which is a great car but with Brexit pending (I live in Ireland), I'm considering that it's time for a swap. I've generally driven 5 series size saloons or estates as my dailies over the last few years. We have a young family and this car is used for pretty much everything - approx 4-6k miles business travel (motorway/A road) and 6-10k miles private. Generally I look at cost of ownership rather than focusing on one particular cost i.e. MPG or tax - generally massive depreciation and terminal failure repair bills are my enemy. I do all my own maintenance and repairs on my cars and not afraid to get stuck into anything really. I generally prefer petrol due to an aversion to diesel idling vibrations but was happy enough with a 530d I had in the past and had an A8 and E320 cdi which was OK too from a refinement standpoint. Not a fan of 4 cylinder diesels but if someone knows of one that is refined as a 6cyl diesel then I'm all ears.

Reqs:
- ULEZ compliant
- Sub 155g/km CO2
- OK for 2 car seats in the back
- Decent to drive

Current shortlist consists of 2 models:
14/15 BMW 530d M Sport with 60-70k - comes in around €20k on the road here after import taxes. Competent all rounder, and should be reasonably reliable. Only downside is its a diesel
16 Mercedes c350e Sport Estate with 60k - €17k on the road here after import taxes. The low speed NVH refinement is tempting but not really sure on the package

The outlier is the G30 530e, but the value in late 530d F10s make that difficult to consider...

I've discounted anything Lexus has having owned a couple I know they're not for me (even though a GS300/450h is the perfect choice for me on paper). Would welcome suggestions!

raspy

1,468 posts

94 months

Sunday 5th July 2020

MB warranty on the C350e hybrid battery runs out after 60k miles. I would avoid buying that car unless you are prepared to take the risk of a potentially big bill at some point.

anxious_ant

2,626 posts

79 months

Sunday 5th July 2020

raspy said:

MB warranty on the C350e hybrid battery runs out after 60k miles. I would avoid buying that car unless you are prepared to take the risk of a potentially big bill at some point.

This. I've owned one and sold it off for the same reason.
Even the extended comprehensive MB warranty doesn't cover the batteries.
Brilliant car though, pretty rapid and yet still managed 50mpg all day long.

Edited by anxious_ant on Sunday 5th July 13:15

ZX10R NIN

27,594 posts

125 months

Sunday 5th July 2020

Original Poster

321 posts

137 months

Sunday 5th July 2020

Thanks all, you've pretty much confirmed my reservations on the c350e and as such I don't think I'll continue to consider one for now.

Thanks for the suggestions ZX but all the diesels appear to be non-ULEZ (you've picked the contenders that I had to get rid of for this reason!). Importing non-ULEZ is just not an option anymore due to a whopper NOX tax that has been introduced to stop non EU6 diesels being imported. All the others are too high co2 (again no value in importing)

Looks like import wise, the only option that fits my needs is the 530d. Alternatively, the following are available locally within budget:

13 plate A6 3.0 tdi quattro, 100k, €14k
14 plate XF 3.0d, 85k miles, €16k (I have always discounted these from engine bork factor risk, am I wrong?)
14 plate A6 Allroad, 85k, €20k
14 plate 530d M Sport, 115k miles, €18k

16v stretch

975 posts

157 months

Sunday 5th July 2020

2016 335 - Touring with 22.5k

That one stood out to me, as potentially a decent shout. Claims to be ULEZ too.

There seems to be plenty of boring options, A6 3.0, RX 450h, and then smaller options etc.

ZX10R NIN

27,594 posts

125 months

Sunday 5th July 2020

Sorry about that, are the Hybrids I listed still high C02?

The BMW's are 5 Series is 163 & the 3 Series 139 both are ULEZ

The Infiniti (I realise I didn't actually send you any links) Q70 Premium Tech is 145

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

& the Q50 Sport 144

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

Also you can get a 3.0d XF which are proving a reliable alternative to the 530d.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Original Poster

321 posts

137 months

Monday 6th July 2020

I like the XF but have reservations about their reliability, a friend in the business told me that the 3.0s can suffer the same issues as the 2.7 which concerned me.

Re the AHs, I like them but the reduced boot space kills it for me. The infinity models would have zero resale in Ireland so I'd just be burning my cash and I imagine is be bored quickly as I was with my GS450h and GS300 I owned.

I had discounted the F31 as I know I'd prefer an f10/f11

So shortlist now:
- F10/F11 530d
- XF 3.0d

Anything else?

Original Poster

321 posts

137 months