[A900ss]

Hi,

It's time for me to order my new company car and I have quite a restrictive list that I can't challenge.

The two stand out cars are:

520d SE auto saloon with professional media
520d SE manual touring (no nav)

Now I much prefer driving autos as I drive circa 30,000 miles pa. Having said that, my current car is a manual and I do very little city driving. Heart still says auto.

Head says forego the auto and get the extra space of the touring as I have two small kids. Heart argues that although the extra space would be useful, I could always add a roofbox to a saloon when I really need the space.

Anyone else have a similar predicament or can give positives/negatives of ow you have got on with both transmissions.

Many thanks.

PS - costs, depreciation, etc are not important as that is all paid for.

[the_rangdo]

Having just moved from a manual E91 to an auto F11, and do circa 22k miles a year - it's got to be auto

While you don't do much city driving you'll know the UK m-ways are rarely freely moving. Stop/start in a traffic jam with the auto is so nice (boring word I know) after a manual - and it's so smooth I'm amazed (having had an auto-6 E90 in the past)

The F10 boot is pretty large for most uses, if you could maybe spec folding rear seats I guess you'd have best of both worlds.

[jedpause]

I had the same dilemma (well, Estate vs Sedan). As I have had Audi Estate's and Touran's and all were auto's. I thought, how often will I be with the whole family and using/needing an estate? Answer was probably once or twice a year.... when driving to the continent (1 week) or in the UK (normally long weekends)

I have a very good roof box, and would shell out the £190± for the roof bars if I really had to.... but to be honest the boot is huge, more space than my Audi Estates had (A4's).... so for the pleasure of driving in comfort, in auto for 99% of the year I opted for the M-Sport Sports Auto, not regretting it.

Another consideration is the fact that in the sedan, rear seats don't come down unless you order split rear folding seats.... now that I will miss from time to time for DIY collections etc.... but my wife has a whacking great Citroen C4 Gran Picasso, which could shift a small zoo with all the seats down..

[bimmer man]

I would have gone for f 10 auto, automatic transmission is superb.

[BigKutta]

I would go for the manual F11, they are just gorgeous!

[the_rangdo]

Originally Posted by jedpause

but my wife has a whacking great Citroen C4 Gran Picasso, which could shift a small zoo with all the seats down..

My wife's got a Fiat 500 so I got the touring for that 1% we might need it (like moving Xmas trees and other crucial stuff)

[mrashton]

I chose the F11 over the F10 at the last minute as this is our family car and the space was a no brainer. But, in your predicament, the decider for me would be the Auto with Pro Nav F10. I haven't driven a manual Fxx car but the auto is such a gem I had no desire to sample the manual! Try get split folding seats as an option as previously stated.

Good luck!

[PeterF11]

I went for the manual touring because i like the lines of the f11 more, subjective, i know. Furthermore, the verstility of a station is welcome since i also have two small kids. In the end an auto would have been nice but because i have never owned one, i will not miss it. Good luck with your dilemma.

[Bimmernerd]

Hmm...very tough choice, as you have kids the first thought would be go with the Touring. However I have driven the 520d with manual transmission once and think this engine works a lot better with the brilliant 8-speed auto...If you spend a lot of time city driving, definitely choose auto! Good luck

[Bimmernerd]

Sorry, I saw now that you do NOT spend a lot of time city driving, then I'd say go for the Touring :

[F11-Diesel]

A touring with sport automatic and a Tom Tom might be the best choice.

[A900ss]

Originally Posted by F11-Diesel

A touring with sport automatic and a Tom Tom might be the best choice.

If that was possible I would jump at it. My choice is auto saloon or manual touring and that's my problem. The Professional in the saloon I can get is just a bonus but I'm not too concerned if I get nav or not.

[Ellmat]

Originally Posted by A900ss

If that was possible I would jump at it. My choice is auto saloon or manual touring and that's my problem. The Professional in the saloon I can get is just a bonus but I'm not too concerned if I get nav or not.

You could try and mention to your boss that the F11 is likely to have better residual value after 3 years as there are a lot less sold than F10...the auto would increase the value further.

FYI...BMW are giving away sat-nav pro in F10 as a free upgrade at the moment, not on F11

[Bimmernerd]

Originally Posted by Ellmat

You could try and mention to your boss that the F11 is likely to have better residual value after 3 years as there are a lot less sold than F10...the auto would increase the value further.

FYI...BMW are giving away sat-nav pro in F10 as a free upgrade at the moment, not on F11

Amazing that you get Sat Nav for free, in Sweden everything and I mean everything costs extra. You do not even get Xenon lights, Alarm system or foldable rear seats as std on a F10...

[A900ss]

Originally Posted by Ellmat

You could try and mention to your boss that the F11 is likely to have better residual value after 3 years as there are a lot less sold than F10...the auto would increase the value further.

FYI...BMW are giving away sat-nav pro in F10 as a free upgrade at the moment, not on F11

It would be a lease car so residuals are built in to the monthly cost unfortunately. And a four year lease at that!!!

Good info re the nav though, that explains why the saloon can have auto AND nav whereas the touring is just the manual. Looks like the 5 must be right on the edge of my budget which is why I can get auto or touring but not both.

Still don't know what to do......

[sycd]

We have an F10 manual (hard to find in the US) and love the transmission! Very smooth shifting, much easier to control the clutch compared to our previous 335i manual. Absolutely no regrets.

Another factor for us is that having an M3 with DCT we just can't drive a regular automatic transmission anymore