Help - Which Car - BMW, Audi or Discovery

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Mon 31 Dec 2007 20:44
Help - Which Car - BMW, Audi or Discovery - Rashid

I've been bideing my time and saving up the pennies.

My choice are;

Land Rover Discovery 3, but it's expensive and not the best MPG

New Style BMW 5 Touring - Supoosed to be good, haven't driven it yet

Audi A4 Avant - Had a diesel for a couple of weeks, great car, good MPG

Now my dilemma (it's not a bad dilemma to have) is;

A) I want the car to depreciate well.
So far the Disco depreciation has been excellent, but it's only just 3 years old, so if i bought now will it depreciate faster when more stock starts showing up?)

B) I don't do many miles a year, but will be going on family hols in it twice a year.
Again disco good for putting tons of crap in, not so good on MPG,
Audi Good on MPG, not big enough though, (and the A6 is just too long)
BMW Good on MPG and i think big enough

C) My budget is around £15k with a possible £2k px.

D) I love the disco but don't feel particularly excited about the other two although i know both are great cars and i would be lucky to own them.

Any helpful advice from those knowledgeable would be greatly appreciated.
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Mon 31 Dec 2007 21:40
Help - Which Car - BMW, Audi or Discovery - MichaelR
You can't afford a Disco 3 - they are not £15k yet. So thats out the window. You dont plan to take it offroad so you don't need a Disco anyway, you'd notice the compromises such as the huge weight and high centre of gravity too much anyway.

The best car in your list is the 5 Series Touring but £15k is only going to get you an early E60 variant.
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Mon 31 Dec 2007 22:09
Help - Which Car - BMW, Audi or Discovery - SuperBuyer
The disco's are just starting to hit the £15-17K market, but as ex-fleet (high mileage etc.), and the reliability of them is, erm, questionnable as far as I can see.

Personally, I'd go for the Audi. But I'd go for the A6 instead - its cheaper and a more usable size. Have a look at the 2.7TDI - not sure how much these are fetching (bearing in mind they are about £30K new IIRC)

I should point out at this stage that I am a self-confessed VAG fan - currently owning a 121K Golf GTI Diesel, and previously having owned another 125K Golf GTTDI.

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Mon 31 Dec 2007 22:10
Help - Which Car - BMW, Audi or Discovery - Avant
People tend to prefer either BMWs or Audis, depending on their driving style and personal taste. Try each and see what you think.

If you only need the space when you go on holiday, go for an A4 or BMW 3-series Touring and get a roof-box or crossbars.

I've only driven a Disco once and it was a ponderous great lump: do you need the height or the 4wd?

You could consider a petrol if you don't do a lot of miles annually: you may get a newer car for your budget.

Maybe also bring a Mercedes C-class estate into your calculations.

(Always, of course, bearing in mind that you are paying for a prestige badge: I presume that's what you want and that Mondeo, Passat and Octavia don't figure in your plans. The last two of those hold their value well, too.)
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Mon 31 Dec 2007 23:50
Help - Which Car - BMW, Audi or Discovery - stuartl
>>>>>>>>>>>A) I want the car to depreciate well.


Does this mean you WANT it to lose money really fast or have I had one too many shandys?

>>>>>>>>>>>So far the Disco depreciation has been excellent, but it's only just 3 years old, so if i bought now will it depreciate faster when more stock starts showing up?)

Ah, glad to hear its been making itself worth less and less and the hole in the owners pockets will get bigger as time goes on.............. : o (

Hideous vehicles, vulgar to drive, vulgar to look at and the added unreliability and depreciation thrown in. Oh, and the fuel consumption.

Audi? Other end of the scale, lovely car : o )

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Tue 1 Jan 2008 00:25
Help - Which Car - BMW, Audi or Discovery - rtj70
Didn't the Discovery 3 come out in 2005 and probably costs around £19k (ish) from dealers. A bit cheaper privately.

But how can you compare a Disco 3 and Audi A4 and a BMW 5 Series Estate. Apple and Oranges. Sounds like you're not sure what you need. Unless you don't need a true 4x4. But then comparing an Audi A4 vs. BMW 5 series does not make that much sense either.
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Tue 1 Jan 2008 08:21
Help - Which Car - BMW, Audi or Discovery - Pendlebury
I think Rashid that this is where you will get many differing views on each of the cars you have selected. Unlike Superbuyer (who's views I respect) I am not a VAG fan and a quick glance now and then at the Technical Issues forum is usually awash with problems on VAG cars.
Personally I would go for the 5 series - as I think these are better engineered cars than the Audis and IMO they probably pip the Audi's on reliability as well.
If you opt for a 5 series diesel it will be a much better engine than the Audi (A4 or A6).
My view is that there is only Honda that could challenge BMW with the refinement and quality of it's engines.
(The unfortunate thing with the BM is that probably no-one will let you ot of a side street in front of them).
I agree with the advice above that the Disco is not necessary and you are paying for a whole lot of functionality you will never use. Better spend your money on a car that has been designed primarily for the way you will use it - whether that is Audi or Beemer.
So my advice is BMW but as I think someone above said use the test drive to determine what you relly like.
I also agree that if you do decide Audi then go for an A6.
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Tue 1 Jan 2008 11:18
Help - Which Car - BMW, Audi or Discovery - Rashid
To be honest, i do think that the sensible choice would be the BMW.
The problem is that i love the look / design / height, etc of the disco.

I don't need to go off road, but in all honesty what do any of us actually need?

I've pretty much discounted the audi as a choice as it is expensive for what it is (imho) unless i could get a super deal, unlikely though.
That, as pointed out does leave VW, Seat..

So do i buy the 5 series touring, and possibly not feel too passionate about it or do i go with my heart and buy the disco with all the assorted problems, MPG, Reliability, People Hatred:)

I know some of the other replies don't see the link between my choices but they're all prestige badges, spacious, and desirable. I don't spend my spare time wearing driving gloves, shades and driving for pleasure, (no offense to those that do!) but when i do drive i want (as much as is possible these days) to enjoy it.

So where people say the disco is a lump, not a drivers car etc. i think well that actually doesn't bother me, i'd rather not be encouraged to be driving at 100mph and taking twisties at speed because the car can hopefully take it. I'll have my wife and kids in the back so having a bit of a lump which is very comfortable doesn't seem like a bad idea.
Does anyone else understand that???

One last thing
I guess if i'm going to end up with a car that i don't love i shouldn't be spending £15k+
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Tue 1 Jan 2008 17:24
Help - Which Car - BMW, Audi or Discovery - Cheeky
I've owned BMWs (330 and 525) and Audis (A6 & A8). Both fantastic. My point of view -- BMWs -- real drivers cars, Rear wheel drive fun - oversensitive suspension set up though. Audis - lovely cars -- cabin quality is superb. Try and bag one that has been well specced. Option of Quattro (Audi 4WD too).

Disco, don't know much about. If I had to choose between the two cars, I tink I'd go Audi as I find the i-Drive system if the current BMWs a real headache. Good luck and enjoy.
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Tue 1 Jan 2008 18:02
Help - Which Car - BMW, Audi or Discovery - jbif
I find the i-Drive system if the current BMWs a real headache.


Can you tell me where I, as a typical "Joe Public", can buy a 5 series estate with i-drive for £15k please? Because I would love to buy one at that price. And I definitely do not want the 4 pot 520 diesel.
All 5 estates under £15k are the old e39 versions as far as I can find.
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Tue 1 Jan 2008 18:07
Help - Which Car - BMW, Audi or Discovery - Pugugly {P}
I-drive wasn;t a real problem, guess its because it was designed for right handed people in LHD cars and I'm left handed.
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Tue 1 Jan 2008 18:19
Help - Which Car - BMW, Audi or Discovery - Rashid
'Can you tell me where I, as a typical "Joe Public", can buy a 5 series estate with i-drive for £15k please?'

Well Mr Joe Public,

Firstly my original post was £15k + a PX worth about £2K+.

However you can still buy a 5 series estate, have you looked through autotrader recently?
I did today, saw quite a few.

Also Cargiant in London, very good prices, as long 8< blatant breach of site policy cut out have done your homework before hand.

Lastly, you can't beat a bit of old fashioned haggling!!!
If you don't ask, you don't get.

Hope this helps.

Edited by Pugugly {P} on 01/01/2008 at 18:25

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Tue 1 Jan 2008 18:42
Help - Which Car - BMW, Audi or Discovery - jbif
I have just done a search on autotrader for a radius of 60 miles around London.
I put a limit of £17,000 and 5 years and 60,000miles.
None of the new 5 series "estate" or "touring" found.
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Tue 1 Jan 2008 19:17
Help - Which Car - BMW, Audi or Discovery - MichaelR
I have just done a search on autotrader for a radius of 60 miles around
London.
I put a limit of £17 000 and 5 years and 60 000miles.
None of the new 5 series "estate" or "touring" found.


Thats because you put a daft limit of 60,000 miles. Nobody buys a 5 Series diesel touring to pop to the shops once a week, 53/04/54 plate 530d Tourings for under £17k will have over 60k on them.
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Tue 1 Jan 2008 20:28
Help - Which Car - BMW, Audi or Discovery - jbif
Nobody buys a 5 Series diesel touring to pop to the shops once a week,


Ah, I can see it is the experience of two decades of yoof years speaking. Old enough nowadays to rule a Country.

So are these people are "Nobody" who have done under 40k miles in the time span you have defined, and are therefore just a figment of my daft mind ?
2004 54 Reg BMW 530d 5dr 38,565 miles
2004 54 Reg BMW 530D 5 Doors, Automatic, Estate 36,000 miles
2004 04 Reg BMW 530d 5 Doors, Manual, Estate, Diesel, 23,000 miles

Or does it prove that there are some "Nobody" out there who do not live by MichaelR's criteria? By the way, I don't like calling people daft or idiots because they do not fit my idea of how the world works.

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Tue 1 Jan 2008 21:10
Help - Which Car - BMW, Audi or Discovery - SuperBuyer
In the defence of MichaelR, he states that that its a daft limit because of the £17K budget. Cars that have low mileage are sold for a premium - no matter that these cars aren't worth the premium. I would think that the difference between a 100K and a 40K car is probably around the £5-6K mark? This is purely a guestimate...

I think what MichaelR is trying to say is that there are very few people who buy a 5series to do no mileage in.

Would you buy a 3-4 year old car with only 23K on the clock? I certainly wouldn't. In fact, I probably wouldn't touch a car of that era with less than 80K on the clock (obviously we are talking 'normal' cars!)
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Wed 2 Jan 2008 00:50
Help - Which Car - BMW, Audi or Discovery - MichaelR
>> Nobody buys a 5 Series diesel touring to pop to the shops once a
>> week
Ah I can see it is the experience of two decades of yoof years speaking.
Old enough nowadays to rule a Country.


Really? And how many years have you spent studying the used BMW market?
So are these people are "Nobody" who have done under 40k miles in the time
span you have defined and are therefore just a figment of my daft mind ?
2004 54 Reg BMW 530d 5dr 38 565 miles
2004 54 Reg BMW 530D 5 Doors Automatic Estate 36 000 miles
2004 04 Reg BMW 530d 5 Doors Manual Estate Diesel 23 000 miles


And they are all circa £15k are they?
Or does it prove that there are some "Nobody" out there who do not live
by MichaelR's criteria? By the way I don't like calling people daft or idiots because
they do not fit my idea of how the world works.


I didn't call anyone daft, I said the notion of expecting to find a plethora of low mileage 530d Tourings for less than £17k was daft and that it should be expected that such cars will have covered between 60 and 120,000. 'Nobody' was an exageration to prove a point.

I'll revise it to make life easier.

It can be said that approximately 85.43% of BMW 5 Series owners who purchased a diesel variant with a touring bodystyle between May 2003 and November 2005 did so becuase they wished to take advantage of the excellent fuel economy for the purposes of making long journeys. As a result of this, the number of people who bought such a car to do short trips in was comparatively small, making such cars scarcer on the used market.

Is that better?

Oh, and I am very sorry that you don't feel I'm old enough to discuss the BMW 5 Series. After all, it's a car that somebody of my age cannot possibly know a thing about, isn't it.
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Tue 1 Jan 2008 18:22
Help - Which Car - BMW, Audi or Discovery - Rashid
Latest Update,

Should I be sensible and buy the beemer?

Also am going to rent an A6 and see what it's like.

Thanks for all the advice so far.
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Tue 1 Jan 2008 18:31
Help - Which Car - BMW, Audi or Discovery - Pugugly {P}
Seriously as a former owner of BMWs for many years, you'll need to factor in additional costs you may encounter buying at this level. I would suggest

1. Buy with a warranty and warranted history.

2. Make sure you have the car thoroughly checked over by someone who knows their onions.

3. Identify an accesible and good Indie garage, owning a used BMW out of warranty can be seriously wallet emptying through dealerships. Indies aren't charities either. Fit only the best
parts (especially oils and fiilters) you can afford. Tyres - do not compromise on these.

4. Make sure you buy the right trim/spec for instance lack of SatNav can bruise values when selling privately later on. Stupid but true.

Trust me.
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Tue 1 Jan 2008 19:57
Help - Which Car - BMW, Audi or Discovery - SuperBuyer
With regards to pricing - a colleague of mine has just sold a manual 530d (newer shape) on a 54 plate for about £14K privately (95K full BMW History)

And Pendlebury is right - there are a lot of people that don't like the VAG cars, but I can only speak of my own personal opinion, and that is 40K in the Golfs of mine, my father has done probably over 120K in VAG cars between 1997 and 2007, and indeed only switched to a Lexus a month before he died. However, there are a lot of problems with some of these cars, and whether I would ever advise anyone to buy new is another matter!

I would also second PUs comments about the costs - finding that indie is sensible, but its best not to buy servicing on price alone.

Here is a car to whet your appetite:-

www.expolicecarcentre.com/Cars/54%20bmw.jpg - £12K

Not making any comments other than ex fleet cars can't be much dearer than this.
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Wed 2 Jan 2008 01:00
Help - Which Car - BMW, Audi or Discovery - MichaelR
Here is a car to whet your appetite:-
www.expolicecarcentre.com/Cars/54%20bmw.jpg - £12K
Not making any comments other than ex fleet cars can't be much dearer than this.


It's £12k becuase it's an ex traffic police car. I'd not buy one of these under any circumstances.
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Wed 2 Jan 2008 19:59
Help - Which Car - BMW, Audi or Discovery - SuperBuyer
Hence my statement "Not making any comments other than ex fleet cars can't be much dearer than this." - it generally follows that these are only a couple of K under fleet prices...

But, as I've said before, having seen the way company cars have been treated before, its a close call as to which one I'd buy.

Same company as before has some Disco 3 for sale - ex Highways..... OP did mention a Disco 3

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Thu 3 Jan 2008 10:01
Help - Which Car - BMW, Audi or Discovery - Mr Fox
Having had numerous company cars, and knowing how mean the leasing companies are, I would take an Ex Police car rather than an ex fleet car.

For example, I had a Peugeot 406 HDI Estate for 3 years and ran it up to 130 000 Miles. at the last service the garage found a list of things that would need doing, such as a new Clutch, some new suspension bushes, new brake discs ( it ate these ) All of which LEX, the leasing company refused to authorise, as the car was coming to the end of its lease period. . . Whilst at the same time I was repeatedly pestered by the same company asking if I'd like to buy the car ?????

I doubt whether the police would have the same attitude to maintanance and repair expenses. Leasse companies operate on tiny margins and will most probably send a car to auction that needs a lot of work doing, rather than in "perfect order"

I just looked at the website for the Ex Police car company, and there is a very tasty looking Omega MV6 - if you like that sort of thing, they can't be bad motors though, the police have used them for years.
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Thu 3 Jan 2008 13:14
Help - Which Car - BMW, Audi or Discovery - MichaelR
You only need to watch an Episode of Traffic Cops and see the speed with which these cars are driven over speed ramps and up curbs chasing criminals to know you'd just not want to buy one.
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Thu 3 Jan 2008 13:24
Help - Which Car - BMW, Audi or Discovery - Roly93
It's £12k becuase it's an ex traffic police car. I'd not buy one of these
under any circumstances.

Quite right, why anyone would want an ex-Police vehicle is beyond me. They are got rid of usually becaue they are worn out by most peoples standards, and have had a very very hard life, trashed by everyone, with probably a few dings into the bargain as well.
I've seen a couple in the car auctions a few years ago, they were absolute sheds.
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Thu 3 Jan 2008 20:06
Help - Which Car - BMW, Audi or Discovery - SuperBuyer
And you only need to watch how sales reps drive onto customers car parks and over kerbs to see why some ex-police vehicles aren't too bad. As an ex-company car driver, I managed to puncture two tyres in two weeks by driving too fast up kerbs, and in my own car managed to kill a tyre and the sump by driving straight over a roundabout.

But, this is getting off the OPs original question. How are you getting on with all these confusing pieces of advice? Or have you given up and gone to the pub instead, to seek advice from those who have had one two many? It might be more coherent ;-))
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Fri 4 Jan 2008 06:55
Help - Which Car - BMW, Audi or Discovery - grumpyscot
If you don't know how to use indicators, or don't bother using a hands-free kit for your mobile phone, then Audi or BMW must be your choice. :>)

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Fri 4 Jan 2008 18:11
Help - Which Car - BMW, Audi or Discovery - Rashid

Well, the pub idea does sound quite tempting.

Normally I try to rent car for a few days to get a good feel for it in all driving conditions, unfortunately the disco is proving quite hard to source unless i fork out about £200 a day.

Otherwise Disco 3 is my favorite, but i fully appreciate the downsides.

BMW good choice, perhaps the driving of one will sway me in its direction.

Audi, i think it would have to be a very good deal for me to go its way.

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Sun 22 Sep 2024 19:37
Help - Which Car - BMW, Audi or Discovery - Rashid

Was having a browse on here and came across an old thread of mine...made me chuckle with some of the comments.

In the end I bought a Disco 3 for £19K that was 2 yrs old, from a LR dealer...60K Miles or thereabouts.

I loved that car, and ended up keeping it till earlier this year when I couldn't justify the ULEZ costs. Couldn't let it be sc***ped so sent to Ukraine for Humanitarian purposes.

Had very similar buying headaches when trying to replace it, went through most of the BMW range, Volvo XC40 & XC90, (didn't like the XC60) have gone off Audis but they were a contender. Investigated Mercs, but felt the BMWs were better.

Again i think dealers thought i was mad, as why would i look at a 1 Series but also be interested in a 4x4....well, guess I'm one of those annoying people that aren't so easily put in a box. (I did like the 1 series too!)

In the end it came down to Porsche Macan, BMW 3 Touring, & the Disco 5

The Disco 5 won the day after finding another good deal, but unlike my Disco 3, it's not quite my perfect car, but it will do for now, but belated thanks to all those who chipped in all those years ago, and turned out that time, I did buy the right car for me.

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Sun 22 Sep 2024 20:58
Help - Which Car - BMW, Audi or Discovery - John F

Was having a browse on here and came across an old thread of mine...made me chuckle with some of the comments.

In the end I bought a Disco 3 for £19K that was 2 yrs old, from a LR dealer...60K Miles or thereabouts.

I loved that car, and ended up keeping it till earlier this year when I couldn't justify the ULEZ costs. Couldn't let it be sc***ped so sent to Ukraine for Humanitarian purposes.

Well done sir! Nice to have an update. 16 trouble free years from a second hand Disco?! What was the mileage when it emigrated?

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Sun 22 Sep 2024 21:44
Help - Which Car - BMW, Audi or Discovery - Xileno

This thread must take the record for the oldest genuine resurrection! Usually when an old thread surfaces it's due to an irritating spammer.

Let's hope the Discovery 5 proves as good.

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