Despite the desirable image and what 'herd' opinion might suggest, most 'bread and butter' BMW's are not actually anything special. Both in terms of how they drive, and more importantly (for a second hand buyer) reliability, which can actually be pretty poor. Now if you have the funds to get behind the wheel of a new one with the protection of a warranty, fair do's. But a second hand example outwith warranty?, your money and all, but I wouldn't.

Same goes for Mercedes, and to a lesser extent, Audi. To be fair though, the problem I'd have with buying a smaller Audi is not so much that they are bad cars, just that i can get essentially the same car from VW and more particularly Seat and Skoda for less money. Being a canny Scot, that is what I'd sooner do.

We'd need a bit more info on your particular requirements before making any suggestions. Budget?, and I'm assuming the BMW would be some kind of finance deal since you then mention a £5k car?. Is that what you have available to buy a car outright?. How many miles you expect to cover along with type of journey (mainly motorways, urban, etc)?. How much space you need (including boot, if you have a big dog?).

But I'd suggest you look at something a bit more modest as a first car and £5k is plenty to get into something nice reliable and practical for a couple of years to build up your NCB (even if that car may not have the image you desire!)