20k luxury: A7 Sportback vs. 6-Series GC vs. mk2 CLS

[white_goodman]

I’ve had my mk7 Golf Estate for nearly 4 years now and for possibly the first time in my car buying career, I don’t know what to replace it with. The obvious replacement would be a mk7.5 Golf GTI Performance/Golf R (other hot hatches are available) and I probably wouldn’t be disappointed with one of them in all fairness but I plan to keep my next vehicle for a long time (until my kids have grown up, they’re 10 and 8 now) and it may well be my last ICE car, so I’m tempted to go for something a bit “nicer” and these three all offer a lot of car for the money (albeit a bit older than the equivalently priced Golf). I’ve never owned a car bigger than a C-Class (the last 3 have been a “sensible” Civic, MINI and Golf) so the added luxury/refinement of these cars appeals and I imagine they’re not as built down to a cost as a 3-Series/C-Class/A4, so the quality feel should be up to the standards that one would expect from those manufacturers? For this reason, I’ve always fancied a 5-Series/E-Class/A6 but felt that I’m perhaps a bit too young for them, as dare I say it, they’re nice but perhaps a little boring? If I didn’t need rear seats, I could see myself in something like an SL/F-Type but I need the extra practicality of rear seats and a decent boot, so these stylish saloons/coupes seem like a good compromise.

The 6 cylinder diesel versions of these cars would appear to offer the best package of performance/economy but I doubt any of them are Euro 6, so I’m not sure how “futureproof” they are, not that I live in/near a ULEZ zone at the moment. I don’t want to go full RS/M/AMG, as I expect the running costs would be prodigious but what are the lesser 6/8 cylinder petrol versions like? The CLS in my opinion looks the best, so that’s the one I lean towards but I expect the BMW would be the best to drive and I’ve never owned an Audi but having owned several VWs, I imagine that it would be a great car to live with and the benefits of quattro all-wheel drive appeals. Is the extra luxury/refinement/performance that these three cars offer worth the higher running costs over something like a Golf though?