That's a lovely motor Dingdongler, must be frustrating filling it up and to add to the fact many stations only allow you to fill up to £60!! I've lost count the amount of times I've had to flap my arms about to get the attendant to allow me to fill the family car up!

 

Thanks for the kind words

Its my last day with the car today, it goes into the dealer tommorrow. My new one doesn't arrive until the end of the month but if I keep the m5 after the 31st the trade in value drops another £500!

So I'll be driving a honda jazz for the next few weeks!

 

At least the 335 will feel like a rocket ship after the Jazz.

 

535d Jim, but yes after the jazz the new car will feel like a Ferrari and S class benz roled into one

 

So true. My Mum has a Jazz petrol 1.4 or something like that. We bought our cars at the same time with identicle mileage, identicle age and I paid £500 less for my Impreza. The only thing the Jazz that has the Impreza beaten on is fuel economy which is around 10mpg more. The top speed, acceleration, ride comfort, steering, handling, space, actual build quality, looks (IMO), braking and overall driver satisfaction with the Impreza is in a different league.

 

I'm surprised the Jazz-v-Impreza side by side shootout has never been done before by the car mags

 

Sod the M5-any info on the T reg Escort in the photos? These are getting very rare now and are sure for classic status!!

 

It is amazing how much more you get with the Impreza for the same sort of money.

 

Belongs to my cleaner. I can ask her if you are interested in buying it.

 

Actually it's a fantastic little car. The engine is really really smooth ie no gruffness like you get on lower engined Fords and even A class mercedes. The way all the seats fold down to make a little minivan means that it's more practical as a load lugger than the BMW.

Anyway, since we are talking about super saloons this is what I had prior to the BMW. Actually I did have a current shape Audi RS4 for a few days when they first came out but sold it straight on for a minuscule profit, it was too slow!

 

Very interesting thread. I'm due to be in the market for a new car and was looking at E320 CDI's. I'm only covering up to 6-7k a year so might as well go for something a little more interesting!

 

there you go :
http://s17.photobucket.com/albums/b6...t=IMG_0252.jpg

http://s17.photobucket.com/albums/b6...3DIMG_0229.jpg

 

I have always liked the Mercedes C class. What was the C32 like? I thought it was always considered to be relatively slow for a super saloon and that the C55 was a big improvement. I would have thought that it would have been even slower than the RS4. This is only from what Ive heard though so it would be interesting to here from someone who has actually owned them.

 

Thanks gunmetal for mine tomorrow

 

The c32 was quite nippy but not mega fast, about 350ish/350ish. It was supercharged which meant a huge initial shove and instant throttle response which made it 'feel' faster. Very very comfortable but handling was very soft, I never really had the confidence to chuck it around in the way I did the M5.

Yes, the RS4 was faster but I was after a more substantial jump. I wanted something 'supercar' fast but the RS4 wasn't, but the M5 was.

Now I've come full circle and just want something nippy and comfortable.

 

Twin turbo V8 in the F10 M5 will be even faster Ding

 

Stop it!!

 

This thread reminds me of those old Quentin Wilson pieces on old style Top Gear how he made you feel a mug for buying a Mondeo when you could, for the same amount have had a tidy Bentley Turbo R, I wonder how many average Mondeo customers thought that the Bentley was agood idea really.

Another analogy I think applies is, as a kid I could always afford the Panini sticker book, always priced fairly reasonably, but after that point, to keep it going it was pocket money rape of the highest order so an M5 for me would be like that, could probably spend 20 grand but never afford to drive it, 15 mpg, the insurance, the tyres, the servicing and the potential ruin if something big breaks, never mind the opportunities for aquiring points in a licence melting frenzy.

I have given up going for big numbers, big power, I am just going to get an MX5 and have some fun that way.

 

Good point, I remember seeing those programmes and thinking what a load of tosh. Personally I'd rather have a brand new Mondeo than a 25 year old Bentley which would be breaking all the time.

Talking of running costs on these cars, I was told that the long engine (whatever that means) for the M5 is £20k

That means any 2005ish car like mine would have to be scrapped if it needed a new engine

 

Long engine is block and heads, short engine is the block only

 

I've just bought a private number plate so my plan is to buy a next generation M3 or M5 when it comes out maybe 2-3 year old. After the warranty is up I'd have to purchase a BMW warantee or are these a fortune? Did you have a BMW warrant on the M5 Ding?

 

This.

Plus to keep it up the servicing charges will hit you hard as will all consumables like brake discs.

running costs = much more than fuel and insurance.

5t.

 

Jim, no I never paid for the extended warranty. I bought it 18 months old so had the remaining 18 months warranty. I think they cost close to £3k/year for M cars.

Funnily enough fivetide in over 3 years of ownership servicing costs have been £1500 (for a major service, but then I did do only about 22,000 miles.

Tyres have cost me quite a bit though. In the next 5000 miles the car will need new pads and probably discs, that's when it will start costing money.

 

This is what I always think when they go on about ceramic brakes etc on Top Gear. Great for the first owner but either you've got to hope there never becomes a point where the 'service parts' out strip the cost of the car or that the resale stays sky high to make it worthwhile.

Trouble is, they'd never ne 'bargain' super saloons then so you can't really win!

5t.

 

yes guys they costed an arm and a leg to run .............but you only live once

 

 

You wouldnt get more ceramics then. Just put standards on.

 

I bought a Panini sticker book for the 1982 Spain world cup - found it in the loft and sold it on eBay a few years back and made a tidy profit. If you have the cash or the ability to borrow the cash, the purchase price of a car is almost irrelevant - it is the difference between the cost when you buy and how much you get back that is important i.e. depreciation, not just purchase price.

 

Cheers Ding. I think that puts the mockers on my plan of an M3 in the future. May as well stick with the 335 then purchase the new models equivalent.

 

No wonder it's so slow... 2.4 Tonnes

dunx

P.S. My Scoobaru is 9 years old next month and has lost about £200 a month, half the bill for mods...