530D or E320 CDI Estate?

inflames · 18 Apr 2017 at 14:02

Really need to have a larger car again, now that my mother law condition has gotten worse meaning she now needs to use her wheel chair all the time now. Plus we have a buggy for our youngest and of coarse all the usual kids stuff. Plus with the amount miles i do and the size of the car a diesel will be needed, so i want proper diesel engine, not a 4 pot like my previous Passat. My wife doesn't think she would be a able to drive an SUV what would be ideal, so an estate is the option we have gone for.
At the moment the choice is between a BMW 530D touring, i use to drive a 330d touring for work and was a brilliant engine pulled like a train! Or a Mercedes E320 CDI Estate, i have driven a couple of these salon version, when i was looking to buy my current car but didn't due to certain reasons at the time. Iv got 8K to play with, so what do we all think of these? Any others that i should consider?

Diddums · 18 Apr 2017 at 14:05

You may as well ask this on Bimmerforums.

inflames · 18 Apr 2017 at 14:34

Diddums said:
You may as well ask this on Bimmerforums.

Ok, was not aware that there was BMW bias on here?

Diddums · 18 Apr 2017 at 14:36

Well, the BMW owners thread is at 1078 pages and is permanently stuck to the first page of motors. The Merc thread is on page 6 and has 37 pages. Take from that what you will

inflames · 18 Apr 2017 at 14:45

Diddums said:
Well, the BMW owners thread is at 1078 pages and is permanently stuck to the first page of motors. The Merc thread is on page 6 and has 37 pages. Take from that what you will

Fair point.

rodenal · 18 Apr 2017 at 14:56

I'd imagine the main problem you have here is the cost of the car vs age and potential reliability with both. You're looking at examples of both that are going to be at best 8/9 years old so will need a bit of looking after even assuming no "real" faults occur - is that something you're prepared for?

Only real reason for asking is that you can pick up some much newer, nice enough cars for the same money - albeit probably sacrificing at least one of those cylinders.

Out of those I'd personally prefer the Merc, but would be tempted to find a bit more cash and go for the facelifted 09+ 350

ChrisD. · 18 Apr 2017 at 15:04

At that sort of budget, wouldn't something like a Mondeo be far less likely to have large bills/issues? I wouldn't really want to run a x30d engine without warranty, I don't know how reliable the Merc's are I'm afraid.

inflames · 18 Apr 2017 at 15:33

rodenal said:
I'd imagine the main problem you have here is the cost of the car vs age and potential reliability with both. You're looking at examples of both that are going to be at best 8/9 years old so will need a bit of looking after even assuming no "real" faults occur - is that something you're prepared for?

I tend to do most of the work on my cars myself, so thats never been an issue for me.

ChrisD. said:
At that sort of budget, wouldn't something like a Mondeo be far less likely to have large bills/issues?

Thats not necessarily true, most of my cars i have owned have been it that age group without major issues. But i know what you are saying, I also like the Mazda 6 and my wife likes the Mondeo.

danza · 18 Apr 2017 at 18:50

Diddums said:
You may as well ask this on Bimmerforums.

There's actually probably less bias on Bimmerforums tbh.

Scrutinize · 18 Apr 2017 at 20:06

Diddums said:
Well, the BMW owners thread is at 1078 pages and is permanently stuck to the first page of motors. The Merc thread is on page 6 and has 37 pages. Take from that what you will

I always thought that was because most on here couldn't afford a Mercedes or were of the wrong social class. Whereas the BMW is more of an everymans car.

Anyway @inflames given your £8k budget, honestly it's going to be governed by getting the best condition one you can at that price rather than specifically one or the other.

Uther · 18 Apr 2017 at 22:04

Forget the badge, get a Mondeo.

[TW]Fox · 18 Apr 2017 at 22:14

Scrutinize said:
I always thought that was because most on here couldn't afford a Mercedes.

They generally cost the same as the equivalent BMW.

mjt · 18 Apr 2017 at 23:11

The Mercedes has a much bigger boot. Have a look at the Audi A6 as well. Should be able to get a facelift 3.0 TDI in budget if you're not too picky with mileage.

Amp34 · 19 Apr 2017 at 04:06

My wife doesn't think she would be a able to drive an SUV what would be ideal

When you say that what does it actually mean? What SUV are you talking about?

Something like a Honda CR-V is actually shorter and narrower than the 530D (but not by much), but will be taller so give more road visibility - so if your wife is worried about the size then worth pointing that out to her.

Participant · 19 Apr 2017 at 07:05

inflames said:
i use to drive a 330d touring for work and was a brilliant engine pulled like a train!

Like a train you say? Whoa!

[TW]Fox · 19 Apr 2017 at 12:19

Participant said:
Like a train you say? Whoa!

Presumably it takes an absolute age to get to 60 but can eventually do so whilst towing hundreds of tonnes.

I wouldn't want a car that pulled like a train personally.

233 · 19 Apr 2017 at 12:24

Leftfield choice Skoda Superb Estate

E class is massive and iirc biggest boot in class. don't spend 8 grand on a Mondeo though get a facelift mk4.5 for £4500 upwards with a few miles in a decent spec

something like this

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...de=da74bq&price-to=6000&sort=sponsored&page=1
bit leggy but if your happy doing your own maintenance they cost pennies to run, only thing you need to watch our for is rear arm bushes which are readily availably separately

or

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...cation=at_cars&make=SKODA&model=SUPERB&page=1