G31 540i or 530D?

[Cookie-87]

Morning lads and lasses,


All the best for 2021!

I am here again looking for some advice if i may, i have now narrowed the new car down to the G31; ruling out the XC90, Q7 and another A6 Avant (cant stand the E class or XF)

So with this in mind i am looking for a 17/18 plate G31 but really cant choose between these two engines.

I really do miss the 5pot Petrol of my old Focus ST BUT my 3ltr Quattro A6 has been totally fine - Fast, decent economy (easy 45s on a run and 30/32 round town with a 36.6MPG over 23,500 miles)

I have done a fair few business miles over the previous few years but that is about to change with a role change this year which will see me more office bound with a commute of about 4 miles with a 1/2 mile dual carriageway blast.(each way)
We have two dogs and two kids so need the touring, also, i do a lot of fishing so every other week im out on a decent run on a sunday and finally we go camping a few times a yeart with our trailer tent so needs to be a tower.

MOT Miles -
2016 - 2017 = 7,422Miles
2017 - 2018 = 8,700Miles
2018 - 2019 = 9,291 Miles
2019 - 2020 = 11,121Miles (this is based on 18 Months with the 6month MOT extension)

I do fancy the sound of the Petrol engine and i fancy the economy of the Diesel engine.

The 540i Touring are few and far between - 9 listed on autotrader! some decent 530d's on there.

I suspect that most will say go for the 540i but i do remain curious.

Hit me!

Cheers

[Greydog]

Morning Martin

The 540 will be higher maintenance cost, road tax and fuel cost (18 to 20 mpg) 

The 530d will be a little less in maintenance (not a lot) less road tax, fuel cost will be similar to your A6 The straight six BMW engine is one of the worlds great engines, my brother inlaw is on his 4th BMW 5 Touring he has a business in Holland and commutes regularly so racks up the miles. He has had 3 x 530d and a 535d all have run to around 300k kilometres, his current 530d touring is at around 140k all have been tuned, the current car has around 300hp mid range is rapid to say the least yet still gives 40+ mpg 

So comparing the two for me, the 540i every time don't want my neighbours to think I came home in a Taxi 🤣😂

Dave

[Cookie-87]

interesting indeed, that all in mind the one biggest worry for me that i forgot to air was, is dropping £30k in a diesel a wise idea in the current anti-diesel climate .

 

What are the options i should "need" and what are "advantageous" in your view?

 

[Greydog]

Morning Martin

As the Government Plan is to ban sales of "New" Petrol and Diesel cars in 10 years time 2030 Clearly they can't ban the use of Petrol/Diesel cars/trucks from that date so it will take at least another 10 years or so for them to disappear. As long as the fuel is available I suspect many will keep them going.

So dropping £30k into any Petrol/Diesel car caries the same risk, there could be the contrary view that it may well push the price of used vehicles up as the date approaches.

Options are a personal taste so will vary vastly from one person to the next, take Bluetooth at my age my mobile phone is just that a "Phone" for talking on. So connectivity to the car is to answer and make voice calls, my children (all late 30's/40's) use far more of the phone technology so they would look for as an example "Car Play/Android compatibility.

I prefer the "Comfort Seats" these days, always leather certainly Heated. Radio/CD/USB (pretty much standard these days) Navigation, electric windows keyless entry and good AC/Heating for the cabin would do it for me. Oh plus the Luggage/Dog Guard 

I don't want/need a sunroof (experience tells me they are trouble) I don't need rear seat entertainment (they are big enough to buy their own) rear seat passengers should be screaming in terror not watching movies 😈

Wheels and tyres are cosmetic but I like my cars to look good so would choose these with care, probably 20" with colour and spoke pattern to suit the Body colour.

Bit long but it's just what I would look for

Dave

[Cookie-87]

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202011306626687

the SE looks !Removed! but the spec looks immense, just no twobar or pan roof away from perfect 

[Greydog]

Looks really nice, you could make a removable Westfalia tow bar part of the deal? (Westfalia is a BMW OEM supplier)

Lack of Sun roof wouldn't bother me the colour would though, no fan of white.

Good luck