ben asked by a neighbour for advice on his next private car. he has shortlisted bmw 535 m sport second hand 55 plate with 9000 miles and a audi A6 lemans 3 litre brand new. both diesel.

he is a 30,000 mile a year motorway driver with early teenage sons.

any experiences on here from locosters to make me look like a petrol head god with him. will help appease him over all the sunday morning screaming banshee engine reving i do that must wake him.

thanks

pif

The best advice is that they are both excellent cars and that he should buy the one he likes best

edit: just noticed that the bmw is a couple of years old - the audi is new and has a longer warranty so he audi wins there

Cheers

Mark

[Edited on 16/1/08 by mookaloid]

BMW,Proper wheel drive.I have 1st hand knowledge of late Audi's.The quality isn't "Quite" there.Bmw have cracked it on build.Que every one saying that the Audi that replaced thier shitt3 Bm is 10 times better.....
But.Buy a Bmw and spend your life waiting to be let out of junctions...

Hyia Mark.

[Edited on 16/1/08 by TPG]

Tell him to buy a Merc...

Despite being a serial BMW hater it would have to be the 535d for me. Probably not that fuel efficient for a diesel but a serious piece of kit.

Remapped 535d

ETA: Link to 535d road test

[Edited on 16/1/08 by Duncan_P]

bmw's are great. However, hatred is guaranteed i'm afraid.

Personally I prefer audi. I know they aren't as good dynamicaly, but the looks, interiors and build quality clinch it for me. That and people don't think you are a c***

535 for me, but iam a self confessed BMW lover This is my current dream biz car.

Both are rather good. Decision will come down to extras and final deal

I would definately go Audi. Better residual values and brand new with full 3 year warranty. Better styling ... BMW has struggled with recent design !!

I would also argue that the Audi IS better built than the BMW. To give you an idea. I run a business that specialises in sourcing vehicles for customers. I sold over 50 new Audi;s last year of which 14 were A6's. I only sold 16 new BMW's
of which two were 5 series. Either I'm rubbish at selling BMW's or I'm just not being asked for them !! Oh and I get far more discount and customer support offers from BMW than Audi suggesting they realise the need to "incentivise" customers. If your man wants any free professional advice let me know.

Regards

Bob
Bobs Bangers....The home of sizzling hot deals !!!

since first post we have been trawling the web.

we are going to test drive the bmw on friday.

looks like the audi being new will lose about 11k in first 2 years. 30 to 19k whilst the bmw ( already being 2 years old) will only lose 8k in 2 years. 28 to 20k

the bmw seems to be more thirsty, and group 18 insurance....ouch.... whilst the audi more frugal and "only" group 15.

cant seem to split the 2 on servicing.

he thinks the bmw with the media( bluetooth etc) kit is marginally better kitted out.

add to this teh beemer is about 5k cheaper we are currently favouring that although for no hassle or asking the audi dealers knocked 10% off list if we take one they have in stock.

if the bmw had warranty problems would they have shown by now?? dealer claims its from another dealership where it was used as a courtesy car for joint bentley dealership, somewhere in oxford although it has been at this one for 6 months.....?

Buy the Audi, and you will support the Evil Empire that is trying to have us all drive cars on mutual platform, who has put Lamborghini in the grave, soiled Bugattis name, made Bentley German and bought the rights to win the LeMans for the next 20 years...

Leaning towards Beemers..as you can probably tell.

yeah, good ol bmw who stole the mini, stole land rovers 4x4 secrets and left rover to slowly die.

VAG aren't great (prostitute slush funds an all) but bmw aren't exactly perfect either

and if VAG hadn't bought Lambo/bentley/bugatti either some other big conglomerate would have bought them and done the same as VAG or they would have gone bust and died

i'll take a VAG Lambo over a non-existent one anyday

just my opinion anyway

As a personal observation, I do 40-45K/annum. Do you really want a car that is the most popular hard shoulder hugger.... if not, best buy the Audi!!!

I've had one (a B M W, that is - jees that was difficult to say) and would never have another, ever. Overpriced, overated, the indicators rarely work on these cars and eternally hated...

Audi - everytime, better built, better reliabilty and FAR better looking.

All IMPO - Steve

Haven't driven the two models you state, but recently drove the BMW320d and audi A4 2.oTDi170. Took both cars round a 20 mile route round A roads, minor roads and industrial estates. The BMW had MUCH better ride (much more apparent as a passenger how much the audi thumped and bumped on the bumpy roads), better driver feel and power, and was significantly quicker round the circuit (little traffic to slow us down in either car). The engine was a lot smoother in the BMW. The audi electronic toys seemed more logical, and its cabin was nicer trimmed. The BMW is very plain inside. The BMW trip computer indicated better fuel consumption achieved (admittedly with both cars driven quite hard, and who can say how accurate the trip computer is)
For me the driver feel ans ride made the BMW a clear winner.

Haven't driven the two models you state, but recently drove the BMW320d and audi A4 2.oTDi170. Took both cars round a 20 mile route round A roads, minor roads and industrial estates. The BMW had MUCH better ride (much more apparent as a passenger how much the audi thumped and bumped on the bumpy roads), better driver feel and power, and was significantly quicker round the circuit (little traffic to slow us down in either car). The engine was a lot smoother in the BMW. The audi electronic toys seemed more logical, and its cabin was nicer trimmed. The BMW is very plain inside. The BMW trip computer indicated better fuel consumption achieved (admittedly with both cars driven quite hard, and who can say how accurate the trip computer is)
For me the driver feel ans ride made the BMW a clear winner.

My BMW i sthe 150bhp 2.0D and i love it. The newer diesel is another league ahead.


Im rather surprised the neighbour is fancying a 535D as a private car. Id have a better look at the range first before deciding. It will be quick but the smaller ones are still good and return better mpg.

The new Audis do look very smart but losing the VAT on any new car as soon as you start engine for first time puts me off buying new.

If the 535D was a courtesy car at a Bentley dealer i cant imagne many Bentley owners would be impressed and driven it with care. It should take a lot of stick however.

my wifes just got a 57 plate 3 litre A6 le man and it's very good. We had a TT a few years ago which in my opinion handled well. The A6 quattro feels very similar to the TT. The 3 litre engine pulls well. But not as well as my 5 litre!

BMW is the best diesel by a large margin, BMW is also likely to be a better trade in at end of onwnership (many trade have had expensive experiences with big Audis).

The fact that the BMW is RWD has to be considered I the light of the two younger drivers. Going to a powerful RWD car from FWD can be a culture shock.

BMW have a problem with design, i hated the looks of these cars BUT having driven the BMW and the Audi the BMW is the winner.....

rear wheel drive gives so much better handling and the ride is better. the looks of the BMW are growing on me and I now have one.

ditch

I agree that the BMW design has suffered since Chris Bangle. Thank god he is gone. Audi has picked up alot since the first A6 which was a bit of a big Blob, mostly by adapting a lot of the old BMW trademarks, like the aggrassive stands, well defined lines, wheels at the corners etc. Unfortunately BMW went the other way, and started looking heavy and bulky, with wheels tugged in underneath, and big flat undefined surfaces along the sides. And ofcourse the weird looking bootlids. Audi still have to get rid of the grill at the front, which is much too big and dominating.

And with regards to earlier reply on the Lambos..I would rather have Lambo die(which it is to me anyway), than have every pimp, rapper and basketball player drive a german massproduced knock-off.

At least they could have had an Italian designer design it, instead of a Belgian(father of the skoda Fabia), who has made them sleek and boring like surgical instruments. Where is the passion.

I'm a bit of an Audi lover! so it's defo be the audi for me coz I think big bm's are for old farts with money that don't know what kind of car they want to buy! an if the audi has the quattro four wheel drive then how can anyone argue that the bm has better handling? it's proven the quattro's are safer!!!
You probily don't get much snow down there but even on the wet roads any rear wheel drive can be a handful on a roundabout. audi all the way I'm affraid some of you guy's need to give yourselfs a shake

Got the 530d BMW tourer and love it, my next one will be the 535d for sure.

"Buy a Bmw and spend your life waiting to be let out of junctions..."


Get an "M3" and you dont have to wait!

I loved Top Gears conclusion to the S4, Merc 6.3 and M3 comparison.."they are all great cars, but in the end, the audi and merc are but copies of the M3..."

Audi is like sitting between two chairs, they are not quite as comfortable as the mercs, and not quite as good handling as the beemers. I suppose its what you call a good compromise.