O/T- Confused= which BMW, if at all?===

Nothing better than a used M5 for the money, surely. Providing your wife doesn't mind driving fast cars, nor manuals - my mum refuses to drive anything remotely quick.

 

I've got a new RS4 on order with delivery in Oct/Nov/Dec that might do the trick. 4 doors, 4 seats, 4 wheel drive and lots of those bag things that people think will save them in the event of forced, rapid deceleration. Proper gears too, unlike the RS6.

I had the old RS4, fastest way to transport a fridge I know.

jg

 

As the car is mainly for your wife to use, get what she want's (the volvo 4x4 is a great buy and a little different from the x5's everybody and their au'pair seems to have)

And put anything left over towards a 355 to 360CS upgrade

 

well buy her what she wants

 

I'd definitly go & have a look at an XC90 before you committed to an X5...

I.

 

5 series working well for me and the family so far. Tony do you have dogs?

 

no thats for Stevef to do.

Just wondered the need for something the size of the x5. We had an ml(new shape due out about now i think btw) - only really used the boot when took the dog out. In the cold light of day were paying alot for something we didnt use.

Whatever you do decide on - give me a shout. I have a v good relationship with my broker who receives over and above what discounts the main dealer garage will give you. I spent 100k with him this month - so he owes me a favour. He got me into my 5 for focus money.

 

no worries. pm replied to.

 

Hi Tony

The RS6 Avant is a fabulous motor car. My wife was very comfortable driving my RS6 , and it was great fun for me as well. Drove the X5 before buying the RR sport and just didn't do it for me. Perhaps the shape has been around for a while and I wanted something different.

rgds
James

 

If you drive the RS6 you WILL buy it over the M5 and others. Much more practical. More likely to have been looked after.

 

You tried the 535d yet. My mate was raving about it, and looked quite good (not sure if it was the OEM kit or after market though. Either way the 5 needs an aggresive kit IMO).

Also isnt the X5 due a revision soon?

 

I have the last shape 525 TDS SE Tourer. It does everything i want it to, perfectly... including picking two wooden sun loungers up from homebase, a big single mattress, 2 meter high fence screening to name a few things ... the Tourer just swallows it up and shuts the tailgate. Brilliant, practical, good looking cars.

 

Petrol 3.0 X5 is a waste of time- in the "real world" it does little better fuel wise than a 4.4i when all's said and done and couldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding. Our neighbour has a 3.0 petrol X5 and hates it as she says its too slow.

Don't rule out the V8- I did a similar excercise working out whether to buy a used diesel or petrol Audi A8-I worked out that given the typical mileage of my Mrs's car, it worked out more cost effective to buy the cheaper petrol version as it would take around 200,000 miles to end up saving money by buying the diesel, given their relative fuel use and initial cost! Plus we get the rumble of the petrol engine...

3.0d is a great engine though, and very tweakable- see http://www.dmsautomotive.com/index.asp?upid=21&msid=3

If you like the M5/RS6 idea, then a best of both worlds solution would be an X5 4.6iS which has a tweaked-up M engine.

Or, dare I say it, for practicality try a Volvo XC90- a perfect family machine by all accounts.

 

Tony,

If you get a chance to drive the RS6 in the wet then do so - it is in bad conditions that you realise the huge advantage the 4wd system has in this country. You can put all of its 450bhp on the road even it the wet and it just goes with no fuss at all. It has traction control but it is hardly ever used.

The gearbox although automatic is linked to a very good tiptronic system and if you get the car with the paddleshift steering wheel option it works very well and is a great compromise for enthusiastic driving but with a good auto box that the wife may like.

Unlike many BMW's the car was sold fully loaded and therefore comes Sat nav, etc as standard - there were very few options available

 

I have both an X5 and an XC90
The thing with the X5 is you need to get the sports version with the 4.4 or 4.8 engine. I’ve got the 4.4 and think it’s a fantastic car. The XC90 is absolute rubbish, but the Mrs likes it because you can get 6 kids in it (mind you she still prefers the 360 for the school run)