andymac

Hi Paul

I've just taken delivery of a 520D Msport which is fantastic car to use for business, comfy, reliable and economical. I have a car allowance from work.

I would seriously consider going for new as with a healthly discount 8-9% you will be paying not much more than you would for a late model demonstrator but if you financed it over 3 years the car would be under warranty for the whole period too. (Dont forget 3yr UNLIMITED MILEAGE)

Go for it, I am really pleased with my choice.

Andy

Paul_B

Hi Andy,

Thanks for the advice.

I managed to negotiate a really good deal on a demonstrator with my local dealer, so I might just stick with that. To be honest I've never owned a car more than 2 years, and I'd probably look at trading it in before 3 years anyway.

I'm really looking forward to be able to drive a decent car

gIzzE

I have owned a 2.0TDi S-Line A3 DSG, great little car as I had ticked all the options boxes, but I do 30k miles a year too and it soon gets tiring.

I now have an E61 Touring and it is a different ball game, the Audi feels positively numb in comparison, the BMW has so much more feel and actually handles better, even though it is a much bigger car.

Good choice going for one that is 3-6 months old.

Have you had a real shop around? If you are buying almost new and you are no longer worrying about company BIK tax, you might want to look at 525d and 530d, you may be surprised at how little extra it costs a month when financing them. I would aim at getting around 25% off list on a 6 month old car, and only loosing around 40% more over the next 2.5 years even with your mileage. Best way to buy.

Forget the Audi, lovely little car, but not something that you would really want to do 30k miles a year in.

Paul_B

Thanks for the advice gIzzE,

The problem I have is with INsurance on a bigger engine, and I'd like to keep costs down. Besides, the 2.0 is nice and quick (for me anyway), and the MPG is going to be much better than the 525 or 530.

Thanks,

Paul

gIzzE

Insurance is not alot of difference, and depends if you go auto or manual, if you go auto the difference in mpg wil be about 4mpg, a friend has just gone from a 530d auto that he got 34mpg out of over 82k miles to a 520d, now he has only done 14k miles in it so it may get better but at the moment he is only getting 37.4mpg, he was hoping to get over 45mpg at least.

The other thing is come sale time a manual 5 series will be worth a fair bit less than an auto.
All I am saying is this, if you can find a real bargin 530d it may be worth getting some figures, you may find it works out less when you take into account ballon figures etc.

Oh, and the insurance on my 535d was only ?40 a year more than on my 1.9tdi A6 avant.

Either way the 5 M-sport is a great car.

needforspeed

Paul DB - I've just opted out given my new companies VERY generous terms (they also insure)

As a company car my 'base' was an e90 320cd SE.

I bought a 2 year old car thinking that I would save some money.

I've had company cars for the last 10 years and I'll admit I didn't understand the deals that were out there.

Due to my mileage PCP's were not the cheapest so I went for straightforward hp over 4 years.

It's pretty safe as the trade in value will always be greater than what's left on the loan.

However, I've since mooched around a couple of other showrooms and been offered 'partial' HP deals. For instance I was offered a ?32K car with monthly payments only a bit higher than my current loan.

The difference was this was financed over 4 years - but there was a balloon payment at the end like with the PCP's.

Just worth thinking about as you might be able to afford more than you think (or have the car you want and keep the payments down).

In hindsight - I wish I had paid more and bought new - with the reassurance of the warranty and the service package.

The yr 1 depreciation is not massively greater than in later years so the traditional disadvantages of buying new are not there.

Nevermind

As a company car the 520d manual makes a lot of sense because of its low emissions. Mine can achieve over 50MPG quite easily, but averages a little under 40. As a private car I think it probably makes a little less sense. If you are doing a high mileage then the diesels will be less costly to run and will probably be worth more with 70k miles on the clock than an equivalent petrol model. The 525d is nicer to drive, but a little less frugal as a manual, the 530d is much nicer to drive and would probably be nearly as economical as the 520d or 525d in real world driving as a manual. The 530d is also the only one that really copes with an auto 'box out of the three diesel engines mentioned. As a private buy I would probably try and get a six month old 530d Auto with sports or comfort seats and sports suspension. Not necessarily an M-Sport, but If I was doing any miles I would want the sports seats and suspension.

gIzzE

I totally agree, a 530d auto sport can be had for around ?30k on an 05 plate, you could run that for 3 years and sell it with just under 100k miles on it and get ?14000 for it no problem at all.
520d manual would probably be what? ?25k on a 55 plate, and I bet that it would be worth about ?10k so you are only really paying the interest on the difference, and 530d sell really quickly too. Just food fgor thought.

nbusbridge

You owe it to yourself to try a 530D.
I just opted out of the co. scheme and got one.
Even running it in gently, it's still amazing

Paul_B

Thanks for advice.

Unfortunately as I said, the insurance would be too high, tust me I already quoted for it.

Plus, the 530d is less economical whichever way you look at it, and my budget is ?26k so its way out of my price range.

I think the 520d will be fine as a first BMW, and a low MPG business car.

Thanks,

Paul