New Car Decisions - Opinions Wanted
Discussion
TL;DR - want a new car, needs to fit 2 car seats and a 3rd person, £15k max, narrowed it down to a few, opinions wanted.
Current Car:
A 2005 E61 530i M Sport. Bought it in July 2017 and done roughly 20k miles in it. 102k total. I was working in London at the time commuting via train and doing very few miles so wanted something cheap, petrol and spacious. It needs some work doing to it that will probably cost ~£600-800 (new radiator, new passenger airbag sensor, new tailgate switch, VANOS solenoid, respray the front bumper). I estimate with the work done it's probably worth £4000. I can get around £2.5k trade in without haggling but would rather not do this.
Current commute is 11 miles each way mostly B roads with one 2 mile section of NSL. I do around 12k miles per year and am the only driver in the house (trying to force my wife to pass her test!!!). I want a newer, more reliable, spacious car to do the daily commute, ferry the family about on weekends, to Europe for short trips and the occasional trip to Devon. I've got a 2 year old and another one due in June. I need to consider getting 5 people in the car as a few of my family members don't drive. I occasionally drive into London for work and on weekends so wanted something Euro 6 but since decided I'd rather pay than narrow my options down as we'd be talking ~£100-150 a year in charges.
I sold my E46 M3 CS to fund some home renovations so down to a single car. As I still enjoy driving I originally budgeted £25k to buy a car that can do everything but decided that it was completely pointless as no such car exists in my budget; RS4 (too small), F10 M5 (boot not big enough), C63 AMG (too small).
So figured to drop the budget to £15k and then use the extra £10k for something like another M3, or 370Z etc. Not too fussed for now. I can't afford a C7 RS6 unfortunately.
I've narrowed the selection down but am interested to hear opinions and if I've missed any obvious choices. I'm a bit of a BMW fanboy, the last 5 cars I've had were BMW.
F11 530/535d M Sport - just a newer version of my car. Finding a 535i M Sport with options such as pro nav, sports auto, M Sport Plus etc is near impossible so decided to consider the diesel.
Pros - spacious, everything I want as a driver i.e. good nav, USB/wireless streaming, reasonably quick, look good, dynamically sound.
Cons - not sure if the middle passenger seat is big enough, diesel may be the wrong choice for my commute as it will be barely warm by the time I arrive, I've already had a 5 Series and not sure I want another.
E70 X5 30d/40d.
Pro's - massive, 7 seat option, comfortable, familiar layout, look good
Con's - expensive to run, based on the same platform as my current car, potential for big bills, diesel isn't suited to my annual mileage or commute.
Lexus RX450h facelift model 2012 onwards - I have a soft spot for Lexus and really like the RX450h.
Pro's - petrol, economical for the size of the car, sounds nice, reasonably quick, very reliable compared to the BMW's, spacious, middle passenger would be more comfortable as there's no transmission tunnel
Con's - tech is not as good as BMW, dull to drive, CVT gearbox, interior not as nice as BMW, boot is shallow due to the batteries.
Also considered:
MB GLE - I prefer the X5
Volvo XC90 - I prefer the X5
Touareg - as above
340i - too small
Ford Edge - expensive with a gutless engine and confused gearbox.
If you got this far thanks for reading! Any opinions would be welcome.
Current Car:
A 2005 E61 530i M Sport. Bought it in July 2017 and done roughly 20k miles in it. 102k total. I was working in London at the time commuting via train and doing very few miles so wanted something cheap, petrol and spacious. It needs some work doing to it that will probably cost ~£600-800 (new radiator, new passenger airbag sensor, new tailgate switch, VANOS solenoid, respray the front bumper). I estimate with the work done it's probably worth £4000. I can get around £2.5k trade in without haggling but would rather not do this.
Current commute is 11 miles each way mostly B roads with one 2 mile section of NSL. I do around 12k miles per year and am the only driver in the house (trying to force my wife to pass her test!!!). I want a newer, more reliable, spacious car to do the daily commute, ferry the family about on weekends, to Europe for short trips and the occasional trip to Devon. I've got a 2 year old and another one due in June. I need to consider getting 5 people in the car as a few of my family members don't drive. I occasionally drive into London for work and on weekends so wanted something Euro 6 but since decided I'd rather pay than narrow my options down as we'd be talking ~£100-150 a year in charges.
I sold my E46 M3 CS to fund some home renovations so down to a single car. As I still enjoy driving I originally budgeted £25k to buy a car that can do everything but decided that it was completely pointless as no such car exists in my budget; RS4 (too small), F10 M5 (boot not big enough), C63 AMG (too small).
So figured to drop the budget to £15k and then use the extra £10k for something like another M3, or 370Z etc. Not too fussed for now. I can't afford a C7 RS6 unfortunately.
I've narrowed the selection down but am interested to hear opinions and if I've missed any obvious choices. I'm a bit of a BMW fanboy, the last 5 cars I've had were BMW.
F11 530/535d M Sport - just a newer version of my car. Finding a 535i M Sport with options such as pro nav, sports auto, M Sport Plus etc is near impossible so decided to consider the diesel.
Pros - spacious, everything I want as a driver i.e. good nav, USB/wireless streaming, reasonably quick, look good, dynamically sound.
Cons - not sure if the middle passenger seat is big enough, diesel may be the wrong choice for my commute as it will be barely warm by the time I arrive, I've already had a 5 Series and not sure I want another.
E70 X5 30d/40d.
Pro's - massive, 7 seat option, comfortable, familiar layout, look good
Con's - expensive to run, based on the same platform as my current car, potential for big bills, diesel isn't suited to my annual mileage or commute.
Lexus RX450h facelift model 2012 onwards - I have a soft spot for Lexus and really like the RX450h.
Pro's - petrol, economical for the size of the car, sounds nice, reasonably quick, very reliable compared to the BMW's, spacious, middle passenger would be more comfortable as there's no transmission tunnel
Con's - tech is not as good as BMW, dull to drive, CVT gearbox, interior not as nice as BMW, boot is shallow due to the batteries.
Also considered:
MB GLE - I prefer the X5
Volvo XC90 - I prefer the X5
Touareg - as above
340i - too small
Ford Edge - expensive with a gutless engine and confused gearbox.
If you got this far thanks for reading! Any opinions would be welcome.
I think if I had your commute then I wouldn't necessarily discount diesel, and it will of course massively increase the number you have to choose from!GS450h
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
Infiniti M37
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
Budget stretch but it might tick all your boxes, 535i Hybrid M Sport:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
Infiniti M37
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
Budget stretch but it might tick all your boxes, 535i Hybrid M Sport:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
Panthro said:
Thanks for the suggestions guys. I was really after an estate or SUV style car with a large boot. Although I'm quite intrigued with the M37 now. I'd like to know Infiniti's plan for servicing and parts when they leave western Europe.
All servicing will be carried out by Premium Nissan centres, basically the Infiniti (rebranded) dealers you were using before all warranties & extended warranties will be honoured by Nissan remember the M37 uses the 370 so parts won't be an issue.I have a family member who has a Q50h S & Infiniti have extended the warranty on that so they'll now be covered until Dec 2021.
Infiniti also do am M with the same Hybrid drivetrain as the Q50 hybrid which over 4 months of use is averaging 34mpg whilst still doing 0-60 in the low 5's.
They also come fully loaded Adaptive cruise 360 cameras etc so whilst not being as sharp as a 5 series handling wise they're still a decent steer & a very good family wagon whilst leaving you with even more for the fun wheels.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
Or the diesel 3.0d EX in GT spec but it may be a bit (X3 sized) small
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
If it has to be an Estate then I'd be looking at the 2.0T Mondeo Titanium it's the best FWD steer in class & also has space for fun:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
Edited by ZX10R NIN on Saturday 23 March 12:37
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