£5k luxo barge options

[2gins]

It's a wet day and with little else to do I'm contemplating the next family wagon. Currently 18 months into a Saab 9-5 HOT estate, which is the right tool for the job but at 150k miles it's developed an annoying and so far totally untraceable intermittent knock issue that causes power to be pulled under boost so it drives more like a 2.0t. (New DIC lasted 500 miles before fault recurred....£250 down the pan and I'm getting fed up with it).

I can also convince myself a change is needed as my job will undergo some changes next year that will bring in some higher mileage journeys, so something that works properly all the time and is a bit less leggy would be good. This is research, I'll probably run the 9-5 through the winter and change next year.

I need:

4 doors, 4 seats, preferably rears with Isofix
Minimum 30 mpg fuel economy
Comfort, motorway mile muncher
Half decent b road manners and some poke for overtaking
Fit a road bike (cycle) in the boot, in bits if need be
Folding seats if saloon

Budget £3-5k, I'm used to shedding but also like to take care of my cars so while I've had a couple of cheap Saabs lately I'd go beyond shed money for the right option.

ULEZ would be a good thing but having considered it I don't think it a deal breaker. By opening up to non-compliant diesels there could be some good deals to be had, and although I live close to the boundary I don't very often need the car for trips into the zone.

Use would be frequent trips from London to the frozen wastelands north of Watford, tip runs, family holidays and a low level of local pottering and commuting (but this is usualy by bike).

No preference on body style, I've always liked fast estates but its not a deal breaker.

Some of my thoughts

Obviously the wish list screams Volvo V70 D5
Another 9-5, 2.2 TiD perhaps
Jag XJ6 (budget blown)
E60/E61 530d / 530i (budget blown, unless mega miles)
Passat 2.0 TDI (not keen, don't like the styling and I've done boosted VAG stuff)
A6 / A4 Avant - I like, but residuals are strong
Honda Accord?

Mercs - too jazzy
French - too floppy, awful to drive based on hire car experiences - just can't get comfy

Alfa - would defintely consider a nice V6 although with a TVR as the other car, not sure I have the stones for that

Fords - bit dull and plasticky

Open to any ideas really, or challenge my prejudices!

Edited by 2gins on Wednesday 9th June 14:42

[ajprice]

Lexus? £3-5 brings up IS, GS, LS and RX models on the autotrader search, depending on how important space is to the B road hoons. They come up in the 1-5k smoker barge thread, and there are a few readers car LS threads where they've paid £1k or less.

[Summit_Detailing]

D3 A8.

Cheers,

Chris

[2gins]

I hadn't realised how far A8s had come down!

Jag S Types also look a lot cheaper as well, although I've never been a fan of the styling.

[W201_190e]

You can get plenty of Jaguar XJ's within your budget, the X350.

[Jimmy Recard]

You spent a quarter of a million pounds on a direct ignition cassette for a Saab 95!?

[eein]

There's loads of E65 7 series for that budget. I ran one (730d) for a while due to high work mileage. Was really nice for just wafting along, but had a wiff of fun when wanted.

For a few k more (~9k) you're in to F01 7 series money.

[ZX10R NIN]

Barge wise it's these for me they have the best match of reliability/maintenance costs/spec/pace/handling:

XF Premium Luxury

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202010205...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202009203...

R Class

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202009123...

E280 Sport

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202010134...

320 Avantgarde

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202010024...

530d M Sport

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202009013...

More mainstream options mean I'd be looking at the DS5 they're a good size reliable drivetrain & a nice interior too, when you consider spec/age/mileage.

DS5 DStyle

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202007271...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202010104...

The Mondeo is the best FWD steer in it's class & a good car overall

Titanium X Sport (when you say these are plasticy have you seen a Passat dash?)

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202010074...

Titanium X

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202008212...

[2gins]

So what is the difference between the E60 530d / 530i, as that's where this is heading.

The 530d gets better fuel economy, but the residuals are stronger and looking at my mileage the overall costs over 2-3 years will be about par. Over time the 530d will start to make better financial sense, but then it will probably get into issues with DPFs. So what is the real benefit of the 530d over the petrol equivalent? A manual 530i looks like a no brainer. Main benefit to me appears to be there are more diesels to choose from, but then most of them are retail grayscale and clapped out inside.

Why wouldn't I just have the petrol?!

[ZX10R NIN]

DPF's aren't an issue if you're doing the miles (swirl flaps ingesting themselves is a bigger one) they're both good so the decision is mileage dependent.

[Ian Geary]

2gins said:

So what is the difference between the E60 530d / 530i, as that's where this is heading.

The 530d gets better fuel economy, but the residuals are stronger and looking at my mileage the overall costs over 2-3 years will be about par. Over time the 530d will start to make better financial sense, but then it will probably get into issues with DPFs. So what is the real benefit of the 530d over the petrol equivalent? A manual 530i looks like a no brainer. Main benefit to me appears to be there are more diesels to choose from, but then most of them are retail grayscale and clapped out inside.

Why wouldn't I just have the petrol?!

I bought a leggy petrol E61 525i (same engine as the 530i). I can't get it above 24mpg, as there's various bits that basically make the engine refuse to go into lean mode (Injectors, nox sensor, O2 sensors...I don't want to play the BMW replace it roulette..£1500 of injectors buys a lot of petrol)

Though in terms of comfort, the 11 year old barge is still pleasantly free of rattles, carries its weight well, and has "just" enough poke in 218bhp flavour.

I don't think the BMW diesels of this era were particularly frugal, and suspect maintenance costs with the petrol will be swings and roundabouts.

Prices have shot up since I bought it, but my alternatives were Mondeo 2.5t or an insignia 2.0T neither of which I could track down. Ruled out Saab aeros because many i saw were secumbing to rust, which luckily the BMW is resisting so far.

[ZX10R NIN]

Personally if I wanted a reliable luxo barge then I'd either be stretching the budget & haggling hard to buy this:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/265189217498?hash=item3...

Or one of these:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202012287...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202104061...

[2gins]

I'm leaning towards the 530i to be honest, as it's the lowest capital outlay right now and is ULEZ compliant which is only going to become more important in future (my local council is consulting on a local zone in 2022, plus diesel parking surcharges etc). Little concerned about the 24 mpg figure but I have to hope you were just unlucky Ian? I don't expect the 37 mpg book figure but I'll be happy enough if it'll do 33ish on a long motorway/A road run.

It's has a fair bit of warranty work for the usual N53 issues earlier in its life but seems straight now. AIUI the problem was that the seals in the fuel pump didn't like the ethanol content which led to the pump lunching itself, and bits of softened rubber going down the fuel rail and gumming up the injectors. Improper fueling then played merry hell with spark plugs and the cat and probably stressed the coils into premature failures as well. The pumps were resolved around 2012-13. I don't care about coils, they're pretty much a consumable item on any performance oriented car even back to TVR RV8 days. At least they're fitted singly not joined together in a cartridge so if one fails you have to replace the lot at £250 as you do for the Saab.

The diesel is a head scratcher because it has a lot of the audio options ticked including 'HiFi' and USB-in which is a big draw as retrofit to the base spec adds around £700 including speaker upgrade. But it's £2.5-3k dearer and there's a question mark over how well the auto box has been serviced, and needs rear brakes, so that's £800 right there to chuck a set of discs & pads at it and get the box serviced. Then it's the prospect of impending charges and what it'll be worth with 160k on the clock if I decide to jump off in 2-3 years. It won't be as good a steer over the Dales & Moors etc on my way up north either.

[2gins]

I'm now the owner of a 530i, and so ends 12 years of forced induction

Going off the gauge it burned 10 L fuel on the journey home that works out unscientifically as around 33-34 mpg on motorway at 70-80, which is spot on really.

[GreatGranny]

Happy you're happy OP.

Get some photos up.