I'd be tempted by the older higher spec cars, but can't help feel they'll inevitably cost more to run - a combination of age and more complex electronics surely is going to result in more problems, which in a BMW would really cost an arm and a leg to fix, and given how long you want to keep this car far, I'd definitely be considering. I know its a different and earlier car but aren't some of the electrical/computery bits in the E34 7 series something like a grand to replace, if the main bit fails? Electrical gremlins can be a nightmare to troubleshoot as well.
As an aside, I'm surprised you talk about all the extra toys...
[TW]Fox said:
About £4-6k seems to get some really rather nice ultra high specification 528/535/540's. We are talking *everything* - Xenon lights, double glazing, electric memory seats, heated seats, onboard navigation, onboard television, electric blinds all round, blah blah blah. Whereas the 530i Sport just has the dual climate, cruise, most have leather, etc.
Lets take a look shall we...how much of these are actually really useful additions that you couldn't easily live without?
Xenons - nice to have
Double glazing - adds weight and surely rather pointless? German over engineering as its most obvious - the standard 5 without double glazing is hardly a noisy car is it?
Heated seats - quite nice to have I guess.
Onboard navigation - surely on the earlier cars this is going to be quite a dated system in terms of interface and capability, compared to say a TomTom 500 or something?
Onboard TV - Surprised you place any value on this, given the derision you've greeted others for having/wanting a TV capability in their car
. I seem to recall comments along the lines of 'OMG do you sit in the Maccy D's car park watching 2fast2furios', and 'whats the point cos you're only in the car to be getting somewhere, and you can't watch it when driving anyway...'. I'll freely admit it has some appeal as a gimmick, but practically I don't quite see the importance.
Electric blinds - Cos I'm sure everyone wishes 'ooh I wish i could stop the light getting in' so often whilst in the car
Electric memory seats - Now whilst I'll agree that electrical adjustment is nice, is it just me who just adjusts the seat to a position thats comfortable, and then leaves it be? So the fact that they're electrically operated is nice, but its not really a regular use feature is it? I'm presuming its mostly you that drives your car, given your parents both have their own cars, which renders the memory functionality completely pointless as I see it.
Personally whilst I'd be tempted at the idea of getting a higher spec car in your case, just because I could, of how much real value the extra toys would be in the day to day use of the car is something that would also be in the back of mind.
Lets face is, the 530i Sport is hardly poverty spec is it? I'd go for a newer 530i Sport, maybe try and find one with leccy seats and xenons if you're really that jussed, it saves faffing around with bodykit and headlights, and hasmuch less electrical stuff to go wrong (which it might do, and if its anything like the E38 7 series, will cost you an arm and a leg).
) that is well looked after will have only been broken in at 100k, on verious bmw forums there have been loads of dynos showing that the old broken in cars seem to pull better figures than newer/low milage ones.
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