Another car to look at for the "fun but practical on a budget" combination would be a Suzuki Swift Sport.

Excellent choice, but there will be a very limited selection for £5k unless big miles.

I''ve looked at a few swifts but heard they are quite "flimsy" is there a certain model year you would pick?

I feel like the 116i is more of a overall package as much as i'd prefer the 118i or 120i

My Stepdads work is selling off their company car which is a 318d GT 2017 with 90000 miles and offered to sell for £6500 before putting it to auction. I'm very tempted splash everything on this just to resell because i'd think it would go £10000+

i dont understand instead of highlighting or something that is a combination of fun and reliability to help you decide to drop a fat turd on my chest. Appreciated.

Maybe a slight overreaction?

But if you re-read my post, I did mention the Ford Focus.........

Ideally a 1st gen if you can find a decent example, with its sophisticated rear suspension aiding its outstanding handling prowess. Preferably an ST170, but the "normal" 2.0 (128bhp) is quick enough. 2nd gen (which the C30 is based on) not as sharp, but decent enough to have fun on a twisty road, 2.0 up to 145bhp on these.

However i see now it was my fault for including BMW in the title.

Well that is mighty considerate of you, but I was specifically responding to this rather than the title:

I’m not set on the BMW but i think for the price range i don’t see much else that gives as much reliability and fun for the price

And it was a serious question. I can understand why you might think the 116i fun to drive, what with all that "Ultimate driving machine" advertising malarky, but I'm genuinely curious as to why you think it would be reliable.

Ideally a 1st gen if you can find a decent example, with its sophisticated rear suspension aiding its outstanding handling prowess. Preferably an ST170, but the "normal" 2.0 (128bhp) is quick enough.

This is even dafter advice than buying an older 1 series. The newest Mk 1 will be 2005 and is likely to be pretty rusty by now. Any ST170 will have been through a hedge or 2.

With your infinite wisdom, you are free to tell the OP what fun to drive and reliable car he should be buying with £5k.

Well since you are so knowledgeable yourself you should know it all but here is my one word answer.

None.

For £5000 you should be able to buy a good, fun and reliable car but with prices as they are at present all you are likely to get is a car that is one step away from sc***. Based on that you should not be buying any of those you are considering.

I sold my 2008 1 series about 10 years ago for £7400 which was a good price at the time, for anyone to consider spending £5000 now on a similar car is simply barking.

You can get good, reliable and fairly new cars cars for £5000 but they would not in any way fulfil the OP's brief. As an example we recently sold the wifes uncles Dec 2018 Suzuki Celerio for £5100, full Suzuki history (meaning that providing Suzuki do the service next month its still under warranty), 3800 miles and no damage. But there is no way even that should be worth such money (it was about £8400 new but we paid £6995 as a pre-reg), a few years ago it might have been worth £3000.

What about a Mercedes SLK? For £5k you could easily get a low mileage 2010 model (R171) with service history.

There are three 2010 SLK's on Autotrader within a £5k budget, mileage ranges from 95-116k and all are auto. Include insurance write offs and there are another two. Given what he is looking for, surely the MX5 mentioned by the OP would be a better fit for his requirements than an SLK if going own the route of a two seater?

There is alot to be said for this. I suppose we tend to make suggestions based on head over heart on this forum.

It was the OP who said he wanted reliability and something that can be "dailied" (which I would take to mean reasonably low running costs).

An MX5 will give you the driving experience of rwd and pure steering but it's hopelessly impractical for daily commuting, you'll soon tire of being so low down looking at the wheel nuts of artics. Great fun but really for sunny days. I had one a few years ago and yes, they are a bit rustprone underneath. BMW series 1, well, one of the most uncomfortable cars I've driven! Bum on the floor, no rear room at all and uninspired, nice steering though . My choice would be a Swift sport if you can find one, I have a 1.2 bog standard and to be honest it's as much fun as I've had in almost anything, not fast but very agile and rewarding to hustle.

Interesting to note the OP mentioned a Volvo C30 in their post. This is a car most resistant to rust, a good left of field selection, just avoid the 1.6 diesel version. A 5 cylinder diesel would be a fascinating choice, friend had one from new to 120,000 miles, loved driving it and had very few issues.

Is was just thinking broadly the same thing. If the only downside of a Focus is the looks, a Focus in drag makes sense.