What Sub £5k fast comfy estate?
Discussion
Going to attempt to keep this brief...
I've got a Lotus Elise S2 111S currently as my only car, I'm loving it but using it everyday is adding too much mileage and takes away the sense of it being special when it becomes normality.
So... I want to get a new daily that I can munch up miles on road trips to Europe and still enjoy a twisty B-road with and with a decent boot (preferably an Estate) I sorely miss my E46 330i Sport but the manual was a pain in traffic, so my top choice at the moment is an E46 330i Sport Auto Touring, I know the E46 well and still lust over them. Plan would be to keep this car a long long time. I'm struggling to see past this car and need help with others....
Budget is £5k.
Want it to feel fast and have decent pace on a straight road.
Would like to think I could do about 30mpg on a run.
Not overly keen on FWD, RWD is preference but 4WD is fine too.
Want to feel confident it will take 4 people on a 4,000 mile trip without hiccup.
Keen to avoid big bills, and not overly keen on a diesel.
Things that spring to mind are:
B5 S4 - worried about reliability and big bills
B6 S4 - stretching the budget and surely there will be big bills and poor mpg, but love the idea of one.
Legacy Spec B - very reliable but do they feel fast?
WRX Estate - unsure how good they are at long trips
E39 530i - heavier, slower and more thirsty than the 330i.
Any other suggestions?
I've got a Lotus Elise S2 111S currently as my only car, I'm loving it but using it everyday is adding too much mileage and takes away the sense of it being special when it becomes normality.
So... I want to get a new daily that I can munch up miles on road trips to Europe and still enjoy a twisty B-road with and with a decent boot (preferably an Estate) I sorely miss my E46 330i Sport but the manual was a pain in traffic, so my top choice at the moment is an E46 330i Sport Auto Touring, I know the E46 well and still lust over them. Plan would be to keep this car a long long time. I'm struggling to see past this car and need help with others....
Budget is £5k.
Want it to feel fast and have decent pace on a straight road.
Would like to think I could do about 30mpg on a run.
Not overly keen on FWD, RWD is preference but 4WD is fine too.
Want to feel confident it will take 4 people on a 4,000 mile trip without hiccup.
Keen to avoid big bills, and not overly keen on a diesel.
Things that spring to mind are:
B5 S4 - worried about reliability and big bills
B6 S4 - stretching the budget and surely there will be big bills and poor mpg, but love the idea of one.
Legacy Spec B - very reliable but do they feel fast?
WRX Estate - unsure how good they are at long trips
E39 530i - heavier, slower and more thirsty than the 330i.
Any other suggestions?
B3MX5 said:
Alpina B3 Touring. All UK cars are switchtronic, only 9 3.3's made in RHD though and I ain't selling mine 
You won't get a 3.4S for sub-£5k.
There's a 2003 Saloon for £8K!!!You won't get a 3.4S for sub-£5k.
I did just find this though... I could certainly allow a saloon if it were an Alpina. Can't believe I forgot about them!
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2013...
petrolveins said:
There's a 2003 Saloon for £8K!!!
I did just find this though... I could certainly allow a saloon if it were an Alpina. Can't believe I forgot about them!
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2013...
The Autotrader ad has a slightly optimistic 0-62 time!I did just find this though... I could certainly allow a saloon if it were an Alpina. Can't believe I forgot about them!
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2013...
It's worth keeping a check on the Alpina Register, I'd say most Alpina's for sale in the UK get picked up on and discussed by very knowledgable users. PH seems to have the most supply, but as you've found AT and the Register are also good.
I'd quite like a a B10, there's a few more of those as Tourings than the E46 B3's I think...
Type R Tom said:
That is lovely. There's an extensive build thread of that here isn't there?Type R Tom said:
Oh that would be perfect, it's only local to me too! I already looked at E36 M3 insurance and it's proving very high sadly.
Thought of another car! a Volvo V70R.... 4WD, very comfy and fast! Seem to be very expensive though, makes me worried about the ones in budget.
clarkey540i said:
I was looking at that, not really a coupe fan, and especially not the pre-facelift. I want an Estate, but could push for a Saloon, a coupe is too impractical.We have an auto e46 330i touring - you'll be lucky to clear 30mpg to be honest.
We tend to average about 24 according to the OBC on regular mixed driving.
This weekend's 320 mile round trip on motorways cruising at around the limit garnered about 28 average with 2 adults, a 1 year old, an associated paraphernalia. Best we've ever seen on it is 32 IIRC, which was the same journey, but 2 up and with a spacesaver limiting us to 50!
It's a good car, but the ride is atrocious, and it doesn't feel particularly fast (although every so often when going for an overtake you realise it hides it's true pace well, and that the smoothness of the NA combined with the autobox dull the sensation of acceleration)
Comfy it is not, though. The M Sport suspension is hugely over damped. If I had the chance to get another one I'd sacrifice the (IMHO) better looks of the Sport and go with an SE.
We tend to average about 24 according to the OBC on regular mixed driving.
This weekend's 320 mile round trip on motorways cruising at around the limit garnered about 28 average with 2 adults, a 1 year old, an associated paraphernalia. Best we've ever seen on it is 32 IIRC, which was the same journey, but 2 up and with a spacesaver limiting us to 50!
It's a good car, but the ride is atrocious, and it doesn't feel particularly fast (although every so often when going for an overtake you realise it hides it's true pace well, and that the smoothness of the NA combined with the autobox dull the sensation of acceleration)
Comfy it is not, though. The M Sport suspension is hugely over damped. If I had the chance to get another one I'd sacrifice the (IMHO) better looks of the Sport and go with an SE.
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