Firstly, I apologise for the wall of text, I have broken it up to make reading it easier, but this can't really be a short post, as I need to get in the details.
Ok so I am planning to get out of the ruinously expensive and ill conceived Hire Purchase Agreement that I have my current 2004 E46 BMW 330CI on. I can settle the agreement for about what the car is worth, just about anyway, then I intend to sell it.
As coincidence would have it, yesterday, the dealership I bought it from sent me a postcard saying they want my used BMW to replenish their used stock. So I will of course see what they will give me for it, although I suspect being a BMW main dealer, it probably wont be as much as I would like. I'll find out anyway. I'd rather lose £500 and offload it to them than put up with a load of time wasting tyre kickers coming around for a private sale, obviously there is a limit to what I will take on the chin though, for the sake of convenience.
So I want to get rid of the 330CI and get something else, this time around there will be no finance, I am going to buy the car outright and I am looking to spend less than the 330CI is worth, which is about £10.5k ish.
I'm not really looking to spend more than £6k-£7k to be honest, but that isn't set in stone. I do not do a lot of mileage anymore, about 6-7k miles a year really.
I want something with back doors this time, I would also prefer a manual rather than an auto, and I am not interested if it's got a 4-cylinder engine, I also do not want a diesel. Basically I am looking at petrol V/l6s.
I have been looking out for an E39 530i sport and even the 540i sport for a while, but really I'm not seeing anything, which is quite want I want. I did look at a couple but they were both rather tatty to be honest, which was disappointing. The vast majority are automatic, which I specifically do not want this time around. Basically I am struggling to find want I want from BMW, it does exist, within my price range, but, they just aren't for sale, either that or they are in Northern Scotland or Southern Cornwall, and I'm not travelling that far for a 5 series. I am even prepared to stretch the budget a bit for the 'right' 5.
So I started thinking of some other possible options, I want a decent sized car, with back doors, I want a 6-cylinder petrol engine, and I want it to have 'some' sporting flavour to it. I don't mean like an M5 exactly, basically about as much as a 5 series sport has.
This lead me back to a car I 'used' to be quite a fan of, in passing at least, although I have never driven one and really do not know much about them. The (brace yourselves) MG ZT 190. There are quite a few around, especially in the Midlands, (I only live 2 miles from Longbride though) and I always thought they looked great, and I still do, purposeful but not over the top, basically I really do like the styling of them.
Now I know the Rover 75 and by extension the MG ZT were fundamentally good cars, unlike the rest of the stone age rubbish that came out of Longbridge this century. So it's quite appealing, on the whole. Ok so it’s not rear wheel drive, but I can live with that, especially at the price. They seem to offer very good value for money now, basically a lot of metal for the money.
So is there anything specific I should know about when looking at them? (bear in mind I haven't been to see one yet, I may hate the drive
) I do seem to recall that they use a belt driven engine, thus that needs to have been changed on pretty well any example you could buy now. So give me your thoughts and any advice that people with experience might have to offer please 
Another car I am toying with the idea of is the Volvo S60 T5, although I don't know, there is a little voice inside me saying, don't do it, you can't drive a Volvo at 25. Still, I have always liked the car in passing, it looks nice enough, the interior seems nice and the T5 has quite a reputation for being a bit of a wolf in (old mans) sheep’s clothing.
Then there is the usual Audi option, but I've driven various Audis before, several times, and really I think they are quite boring and uninvolving compared to my BMW. Lovely interiors though.
And finally the only other thing I could think of was the Mondeo ST220, good ones don't seem all that plentiful although they are there. They are also quite a bit more expensive than the MG or the Volvo and indeed the old 5 series, for what they are anyway.
I don't like Mercedes very much, so lets not go there.
Jaguars I can afford aren't particularly appealing to me either.
There is the 330I I guess, although finding Sport versions of those with manual gear boxes isn't so easy either it would seem. I would like something a little different though. Even if I end up back in a 3 series BMW before the year is out. At least buying outright I can basically change my car anytime I like, I'm not tied into any agreements. So this isn't meant to be a long term prospect exactly.
So let me have your wisdom! and advice. Thanks in advance.
Oh one thing I forgot to really mention was, consider this car more of an inbetween until I find the E39 5 series I have always wanted. I am confident that I will one day, so if it comes up in 6 months I will jump on it if it's all right. I want my E46 gone soon really, and it doesn't look like I can find a really good 5 at the moment.
Ok so I am planning to get out of the ruinously expensive and ill conceived Hire Purchase Agreement that I have my current 2004 E46 BMW 330CI on. I can settle the agreement for about what the car is worth, just about anyway, then I intend to sell it.
As coincidence would have it, yesterday, the dealership I bought it from sent me a postcard saying they want my used BMW to replenish their used stock. So I will of course see what they will give me for it, although I suspect being a BMW main dealer, it probably wont be as much as I would like. I'll find out anyway. I'd rather lose £500 and offload it to them than put up with a load of time wasting tyre kickers coming around for a private sale, obviously there is a limit to what I will take on the chin though, for the sake of convenience.
So I want to get rid of the 330CI and get something else, this time around there will be no finance, I am going to buy the car outright and I am looking to spend less than the 330CI is worth, which is about £10.5k ish.
I'm not really looking to spend more than £6k-£7k to be honest, but that isn't set in stone. I do not do a lot of mileage anymore, about 6-7k miles a year really.
I want something with back doors this time, I would also prefer a manual rather than an auto, and I am not interested if it's got a 4-cylinder engine, I also do not want a diesel. Basically I am looking at petrol V/l6s.
I have been looking out for an E39 530i sport and even the 540i sport for a while, but really I'm not seeing anything, which is quite want I want. I did look at a couple but they were both rather tatty to be honest, which was disappointing. The vast majority are automatic, which I specifically do not want this time around. Basically I am struggling to find want I want from BMW, it does exist, within my price range, but, they just aren't for sale, either that or they are in Northern Scotland or Southern Cornwall, and I'm not travelling that far for a 5 series. I am even prepared to stretch the budget a bit for the 'right' 5.
So I started thinking of some other possible options, I want a decent sized car, with back doors, I want a 6-cylinder petrol engine, and I want it to have 'some' sporting flavour to it. I don't mean like an M5 exactly, basically about as much as a 5 series sport has.
This lead me back to a car I 'used' to be quite a fan of, in passing at least, although I have never driven one and really do not know much about them. The (brace yourselves) MG ZT 190. There are quite a few around, especially in the Midlands, (I only live 2 miles from Longbride though) and I always thought they looked great, and I still do, purposeful but not over the top, basically I really do like the styling of them.
Now I know the Rover 75 and by extension the MG ZT were fundamentally good cars, unlike the rest of the stone age rubbish that came out of Longbridge this century. So it's quite appealing, on the whole. Ok so it’s not rear wheel drive, but I can live with that, especially at the price. They seem to offer very good value for money now, basically a lot of metal for the money.
So is there anything specific I should know about when looking at them? (bear in mind I haven't been to see one yet, I may hate the drive
) I do seem to recall that they use a belt driven engine, thus that needs to have been changed on pretty well any example you could buy now. So give me your thoughts and any advice that people with experience might have to offer please Another car I am toying with the idea of is the Volvo S60 T5, although I don't know, there is a little voice inside me saying, don't do it, you can't drive a Volvo at 25. Still, I have always liked the car in passing, it looks nice enough, the interior seems nice and the T5 has quite a reputation for being a bit of a wolf in (old mans) sheep’s clothing.
Then there is the usual Audi option, but I've driven various Audis before, several times, and really I think they are quite boring and uninvolving compared to my BMW. Lovely interiors though.
And finally the only other thing I could think of was the Mondeo ST220, good ones don't seem all that plentiful although they are there. They are also quite a bit more expensive than the MG or the Volvo and indeed the old 5 series, for what they are anyway.
I don't like Mercedes very much, so lets not go there.
Jaguars I can afford aren't particularly appealing to me either.
There is the 330I I guess, although finding Sport versions of those with manual gear boxes isn't so easy either it would seem. I would like something a little different though. Even if I end up back in a 3 series BMW before the year is out. At least buying outright I can basically change my car anytime I like, I'm not tied into any agreements. So this isn't meant to be a long term prospect exactly.
So let me have your wisdom! and advice. Thanks in advance.
Oh one thing I forgot to really mention was, consider this car more of an inbetween until I find the E39 5 series I have always wanted. I am confident that I will one day, so if it comes up in 6 months I will jump on it if it's all right. I want my E46 gone soon really, and it doesn't look like I can find a really good 5 at the moment.
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