[andrewjgreen1]

Hi all, I'm new to this forum and I sort of have two questions but the first one is key.

I'm in the armed forces and can benefit from a discounted rate of private purchase from BMW but am unsure if it's worth it. My wife and I set an initial budget of approximatey £30k to buy a 1 year old 520d touring, replacing my 320i touring as the family grows. The car I've put together (listed below for advice and criticism - my second question) comes in at approximately £39k list; BMW will sell it to me for about £35k (well above my budget I know, but mission creep always occurs). A 12 month old second hand version of the same vehicle, give or take the odd extras, is in the region of £31-32k. Does the discount BMW offer me make it worthwhile breaking the bank or should I stick with my initial gut feeling of never buying a 'new' car?

I suppose a lot of the answer to this depends on how much I value being able to specify the car I want and having a car which is entirely new. Other factors are the extra year's warranty I'd be getting and that a new car is that little further from new tyres/brakes/first service etc. Anyway, for all the information I've thrown at the board I'd like people's opinions on the deal I'm being offered and what factors you would be considering that I may have missed.

Secondly (wow, this is a big post), below is the car I'm thinking of going for, does this seem reasonable/sensible? Any additions to the spec would have to involve a sacrifice of something else as I'm already at the point of about a 20% overspend on the original budget.

520d touring
Black dakota leather interior
Space Grey
18 inch 328 V-spoke alloy wheels
Media package - BMW professional
Automatic gearbox
Exterior mirrors, folding auto dimming
Fine brushed aluminium
Ambient lighting
Internet
DAB digital radio
Telephone USB audio interface
Sun protection glass

The black leather is pretty much essential as I have a 1 year old and we're planning on expanding (does the leather need treatment to stand up well to children?), the same goes for the sun protection glass. I'm still very tempted by lumbar supports as even though the normal seats felt good on a short test drive, as a helicopter pilot lower back pain is, well, a constant pain.

Thank you to anyone who has made it this far into the post and I welcome your thoughts.

Andrew