Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny Grabble
Lots of glass half empty comments here. Here's a glass almost half full perspective...
I came from a 530d auto to a 520d ED manual. I do mainly motorways and A roads, not much city driving. 20k+ miles a year for which I pay. I drove a 520d auto before opting for the manual. Why? Psychologically at least, a small engine in a big car felt faster to me with the manual box than the auto. The manual strikes me as a good one, clutch is easy and the pedals are not as offset as the A6 - the car even raises the revs as you raise the clutch, so in heavy traffic you don't need to use your right foot. The start-stop also functions as an anti-stall feature, should you bring the clutch up too quickly.
My only gripe with the manual - and this is a feature of the now obsolete ED version - is the 10% higher final drive which makes it gutless in 6th on the motorway at legal speeds. 2nd can also be a bit tall for mini roundabouts.
The bigger gripe is the 2.0 engine itself. Enough grunt 90% of the time but it's a rough old thing, especially when cold (and when you've been used to a 6). Averaging 50mpg over the last year or so has proven beneficial on the wallet though.
|
Thanks for that
We have been out looking at cars today.
We did look at the Prius and the CT200 and whilst the CT200 has a really nice cabin, it felt claustrophobic and cramped. As you say the reviews are not good and it is a slow old thing (0 to 60 comes in just short of 13 seconds reving hard all the way with it's CVT gearbox). The Prius on the other hand is roomy and has lots of toys but has looks that only a mother could love and the vast expanses of hard smooth plastic inside have me thinking this will creak and groan with every pothole. And to end it all, even though it was a top of the range model, because it would be specified with the solar roof, it comes with plastic hub caps!
It may be cheap but whilst I still enjoy driving I can't bring myself to say yes to a Prius.
We also looked at the A3 S Line 2.0TDi sportback. Again it's on the list
Brilliant car. Much more space that we expected for back seat passengers. Even I fitted with room to spare in the back. The boot was a good size and it has a good level of standard trim. The cabin again was a really nce place to be and to a point, it did feel like I was sitting in a baby version of mine. I suppose to a point I was.
But we would never fit the 3 of us plus 2 weeks of luggage into the back of it come July when we drive into Europe.
Then we came to BMW. Options were:
118D M Sport
X1 18D SE
318D SE Touring
520D SE Saloon
The 118D was discounted on size alone. The X1 was discounted because the emissions make it more expensive than the 318D or the 520D in company car tax
The 318 Touring was good. Remember I had an E91 335D for a long time and loved that car so it felt familiar and had plenty of room with a good level of standard spec.
The 520D felt very much like my A7. Roomy, comfortable, secure. Even in SE spec, it has most things as standard from leather through to Xenons. Nav and bluetooth. Sure it's not as practical as the 318 Touring but it's close. The boot in the 520 saloon is bigger than the boot (with the seats up) in the 318 touring.
So it's looking like a 520D SE is where I am heading. Probably in Space Grey (at least I get to choose the colour).
Sure it's a manual and it isn't an A7 with 6 cylinders and Quattro but it's the smallest step down and lets put this into perspective. There are a lot of people out there who would kill to have any of these cars on their drive. This really is a 1st world problem we are discussing here.
So expect to see me back here in a few weeks with loads of questions. The first one being:
What is the standard stereo like and can the speakers be upgraded with a simple swap out easily because one thing I will miss from my A7 is the Bose sound system
Thanks