Thinking of an e60/e61 - what engine?

Soldato
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Hi all,

Want to change my current car (CLK270) for a saloon/estate. Main reason for changing is that the car is getting a little tired and while really torquey and brilliant on the motorway, I find the diesel idle tiring around town and it definitely is not a drivers car. This is my first diesel in years, having had a 335i and GS450h as my last 2 cars. Was thinking of going back to an e39 (had 530i and 530d in the past) but far too hard to find a good one now. Currently looking at the following options (all auto, all M Sport):

Pre-LCI
06/07 525i (N52): tax €1080/year
06/07 525d (M57): tax: €1080/year
06/07 530i/d: tax: €1494, insurance 20% more than above

LCI:
08+ 525d/525i/530i/530d: €750/year tax

I'm not a fan of having a large amount of money in a depreciating asset, but I am flexible on budget if the LCI really is a dramatic improvement. I'd likely have to import an LCI from the UK but pre-LCI are better value here due to the high cost of tax.

I rarely used the full beans of the 335i but I did love the torque and the noise. I do about 10k/year comprising of ~2 x 200 mile motorway round trips per month and the rest is all urban driving. My gut is saying that the 525i would be the best all-rounder but would I miss the torque?

Only other option I am considering at the moment is an Lexus IS250 but concerned I may get bored, I'd like to keep the car at least 2 years.
 
Man of Honour
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The LCI is an improvement and I'd imagine most of the pre LCI ones are surely heading for the bin anyway so your best chance of a decent example is going to be a newer LCI.

Can't imagine the reward of ownership is worth the hassle mind at this age :(
 
Soldato
OP
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It's hardly a Bentley guys! I had the jobs of running a 2006 335i so can hardly come near to that as far as running costs goes! I'm pretty handy and don't mind doing a bit of maintenance.

There's a nice pre-LCI 525i available for reasonable money with 65k on the clock which is tempting. There is a similar mileage top spec IS250 for similar money.

Absolutely open to other suggestions but I want something automatic, decent to drive and comfortable, ideally 6 cylinder. Don't want to push to an f10 to be honest.
 
Man of Honour
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commited said:
I had the jobs of running a 2006 335i so can hardly come near to that as far as running costs goes! I'm pretty handy and don't mind doing a bit of maintenance..

Actually it's likely to be very similar in terms of non fuel costs.
 
Soldato
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So I ignored all of the doomsday advice on here and bought a 2007 N53 530i with a manual box \o/ I drove a really nice example of an IS250 and was left massively underwhelmed so decided E9x or E6x it was to be.

It's a 1 owner car, and comes with stacks of history. It's a pretty weird spec but it drives like new and is absolutely immaculate inside and only a few city related battle scars outside. There are a few small mechanical jobs to do but it'll have to be pretty bad to beat my 335i for maintenance pain!

I was never a fan of the e60, but I had never driven an LCI and its superb to drive and the styling has certainly matured.
 
Man of Honour
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159,534
So I ignored all of the doomsday advice on here and bought a 2007 N53 530i with a manual box \o/ I drove a really nice example of an IS250 and was left massively underwhelmed so decided E9x or E6x it was to be.

It's a 1 owner car, and comes with stacks of history. It's a pretty weird spec but it drives like new and is absolutely immaculate inside and only a few city related battle scars outside. There are a few small mechanical jobs to do but it'll have to be pretty bad to beat my 335i for maintenance pain!

I was never a fan of the e60, but I had never driven an LCI and its superb to drive and the styling has certainly matured.

It's a shame we never got the N54 in the E60 like they did elsewhere in the world.
 
Soldato
OP
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It's a shame we never got the N54 in the E60 like they did elsewhere in the world.
Absolutely. That said, after driving turbo cars for the last 3 years, I had forgotten how satisfying N/A power delivery is.

This is the only E60 that I'd consider! The F10 is so much better in every way that it's worth saving more pennies to buy one... although if it's Bentley running costs that you're after the V10 M5 would fit the bill perfectly!
Budget wasn't an issue, I test drove a number of cars multiples of what I paid for the E60 but it was the best all-round package for me that was on offer. I was previously fairly anti-E60 based on a few drives of pre-LCI in the past but I've either got a good one (albeit with a bit of a unique spec) or LCI is a much better car.
 
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