£7k interesting daily

[M.F.D]

My Megane 265 goes in 2 days and currently searching for a bigger daily driver. Here are my requirements.

- 5dr
- Isofix
- Modern-ish
- Some performance (nothing painfully slow)
- ULEZ not essential but certainly a bonus
- No silly £700 tax
- 10k p/a at most, so MPG isn't a massive concern
- Nothing highly strung (ie. happy with Megane levels of maintenance costs)
- Will consider manual/auto and perrol/diesel

Feel like I'm pulling towards larger cars (F11 530d, X3 30d etc) but open to anything interesting.

Saloons are ok if the boot is large enough (small dog crate and pram).

[chocolatefingers5000]

I’m on a similar search atm and am considering - BMW 130i, 330i; Octavia VRS; Passat R36. Not tried any yet but given the classifieds plenty of search time recently

[66HFM]

I'd have gone Octavia VRS hatch or estate or Seat Leon FR hatch or estate or A4 Avant.
Also worth considering a Volvo V40 / V60

[bristolracer]

As competent as a BMW is, I don’t think the world ‘interesting’ applies. The roads are full of them.

Jaguar?
Alfa?

Something you can spot in the car park because it not the obvious default

[M.F.D]

66HFM said:

I'd have gone Octavia VRS hatch or estate or Seat Leon FR hatch or estate or A4 Avant.
Also worth considering a Volvo V40 / V60

Will give these a look. I suppose most of the 2.0 Turbo units will be able to be mapped to provide a bit more grunt.

[M.F.D]

chocolatefingers5000 said:

I m on a similar search atm and am considering - BMW 130i, 330i; Octavia VRS; Passat R36. Not tried any yet but given the classifieds plenty of search time recently

Have a 130i track car and it’s excellent. N52 in the 330i Touring with a manual would be great but hard to find.

[ZX10R NIN]

Optima h:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202504201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202503200...

Ceed GT:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202506103...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202504271...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202506203...

2.0T Insignia:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202506223...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202504121...

If you don't mind a CAT car then this (obviously do your checks) Megane GT Nav could be a very good buy:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202505072...

QX50:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202506213...

EX:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202502189...

2.0T Mondeo:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202506243...

[Pickle_Rick]

Do you mean interesting as in fun, or interesting as in 'you don't see many of them around'.

Or do you mean interesting as in "I'll pretend it's an interesting car, but it's a diesel bmw or skoda octavia"?

[Belle427]

Octavia Vrs probably makes more sense, a remap will see them at 300 Bhp from memory but just make sure you use a reputable company.
I have read about issues with the later BMW 3.0d N57 engine so its worth doing some research on that, the earlier M57 seemed to be bomb proof.
I am currently looking at Mercs for a daily around £5k, the 250 Cdi may be worth a look or one of the larger engined V6 models.
I have looked myself for a BMW E91 330d for a while but they are quite expensive and hard to find with sensible mileage.

[66HFM]

M.F.D said:

66HFM said:

I'd have gone Octavia VRS hatch or estate or Seat Leon FR hatch or estate or A4 Avant.
Also worth considering a Volvo V40 / V60

Will give these a look. I suppose most of the 2.0 Turbo units will be able to be mapped to provide a bit more grunt.

If you wanted to map a V40/V60 you can get a Volvo approved Polestar map and a yellow moose badge...

[RoVoFob]

chocolatefingers5000 said:

I m on a similar search atm and am considering - BMW 130i, 330i; Octavia VRS; Passat R36. Not tried any yet but given the classifieds plenty of search time recently

I had a 130i and an R36 simultaneously last year. Bar the high tax, the R36 was a great practical and fun-to-drive family car. Sounded amazing, drove nicely, had ridiculously good seats and yet still had a big boot and was comfy. High tax was the only thing I could complain about.

The 130i is a great analogue and cheap-to-run hatch that is fun and surprisingly comfy and refined, but it covered fewer bases than the VW. It was technically a better driver’s car than the VW but the VW was more special somehow - especially if you like VR6s. Late VWs and 3.6 V6 CCs are also lower tax (same for Skoda Superb 3.6 V6).

[pti]

chocolatefingers5000 said:

I m on a similar search atm and am considering - BMW 130i, 330i; Octavia VRS; Passat R36. Not tried any yet but given the classifieds plenty of search time recently

Had similar criteria recently and bought a 130i. I'm really enjoying it. The engine's a peach and they're quite rare, if that matters to you.

[Mr Tidy]

M.F.D said:

Have a 130i track car and it s excellent. N52 in the 330i Touring with a manual would be great but hard to find.

I know that problem!

It's why I ended up with a 325i Touring in 2018, but it felt a bit sluggish so I made a different compromise when I replaced it in 2019 with a 330i Saloon. Looking back I should probably have just upped the budget and got a 130i.

[M.F.D]

Update for anyone remotely interested....

My search requirements kept bringing me back to an F11 5 series. So many cars to avoid out there, but managed to find a JDM Import 528i (which is actually a Euro 530i spec). M-Sport trim, loads of options ticked when new.

In the UK these were 2.0 4 cylinder Turbo's but this is still the N52B30, so admittedly not a fast car by today's standards but a lovely engine none the less.

Here's the obligatory petrol station image prior to the 350+ mile drive home.

[ZX10R NIN]

Glad you got sorted OP, nice choice.

[VSKeith]

That looks splendid.

I'm looking in the same ballpark and keep coming back to the F11 (520d though). They're cheaper than the equivalent 3 series but much higher quality.

I just need to get comfortable with the size!

[Mr Tidy]

That looks great, and the 3 litre N52 engine is a gem.

But maybe I'm biased as I'm on my 4th, currently in an E90 330i.