Big estate advice - Merc vs BMW?

chanjy

chanjy

chanjy

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OK so budget is around £23k, 2017 or newer, max 40k ish miles.

Looking at E220d and 520d (G31) at the moment.

Leaning towards the Merc at the moment as they seem to be much more plentiful in budget and look pretty nice inside as long as you get the widescreen displays which seem to be a must (you can’t even get CarPlay unless you spec the COMAND system, which 80% of cars don’t seem to have :()

The 5 series seems to be a bit more expensive but the standard spec seems to be better with the big nav screen as default. SE is in budget but M Sport is right at the top end. Would I be missing out on much if I went SE?

Has anyone driven one or both? Any thoughts?

Ps. Ruled out the Skoda Superb before anyone suggests one!
 

mjt

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Boot is slightly smaller due to the rear rake, but have you considered a V90? They come with fairly high spec.
 

turbot1984

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chanjy said:
OK so budget is around £23k, 2017 or newer, max 40k ish miles.

Looking at E220d and 520d (G31) at the moment.

Leaning towards the Merc at the moment as they seem to be much more plentiful in budget and look pretty nice inside as long as you get the widescreen displays which seem to be a must (you can’t even get CarPlay unless you spec the COMAND system, which 80% of cars don’t seem to have :()

The 5 series seems to be a bit more expensive but the standard spec seems to be better with the big nav screen as default. SE is in budget but M Sport is right at the top end. Would I be missing out on much if I went SE?

Has anyone driven one or both? Any thoughts?

Ps. Ruled out the Skoda Superb before anyone suggests one!
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Did test drives in E300d and 535d estates a few years back ... no brainer for me, BMW miles better to drive, but Merc a good car. Can't vouch for 2 litre models but suspect they are both strong.
 

chanjy

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mjt said:
Boot is slightly smaller due to the rear rake, but have you considered a V90? They come with fairly high spec.
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Thought about it, tried an XC60 a year or two back and hated the steering and the infotainment but the Volvo interiors are really nice
 

chanjy

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I actually had a 535d (f11) which I guess I regret selling since here I am looking for a very similar car a few years down the line. It was miles better than the equivalent Merc at the time which looked like it was from the 90's not the 2010's.

But the current E class seems to be a real step up...
 

[TW]Fox

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The current E Class is an excellent car - you can't exactly make a mistake by purchasing one.

That said, I do think that despite how nice the screens look the infotainment system on the pre facelift E Class is nothing like as good as that on the 5 Series, to the extent where the nav is frustrating to use. The facelift model massively improves on things by adding the MBUX system which is as good if not better than the BMW alternative.
 

turbot1984

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chanjy said:
I actually had a 535d (f11) which I guess I regret selling since here I am looking for a very similar car a few years down the line. It was miles better than the equivalent Merc at the time which looked like it was from the 90's not the 2010's.

But the current E class seems to be a real step up...
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I wanted to keep my 535d as well but leased so got a new 530d instead. I wanted the more powerful 6 pot, but they don't sell it in UK, 340hp. Thanks BMW!
 

[TW]Fox

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Spleen Sauce said:
I'd personally go with an A6 Avant given the choice.
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Why? It's arguably not as good as either the E Class or the 5 Series. It's also likely to be a C7 (ironically better received than it's replacement) which whilst a good car was a 2010-2017 5 Series rival not the current model.
 

Spleen Sauce

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[TW]Fox said:
Why? It's arguably not as good as either the E Class or the 5 Series. It's also likely to be a C7 (ironically better received than it's replacement) which whilst a good car was a 2010-2017 5 Series rival not the current model.
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Fair point - my bad, I misread the price limit as £28k. In which case, I'd probably go with a 5 series on the basis that it's got a better infotainment system and that's pretty important to me when living with a car.
 

chanjy

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Spleen Sauce said:
Fair point - my bad, I misread the price limit as £28k. In which case, I'd probably go with a 5 series on the basis that it's got a better infotainment system and that's pretty important to me when living with a car.
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Yeah the latest A6 isn’t in budget and I find the suspension a bit solid in Audis too

The widescreen COMAND system in the Merc has Carplay while the 5 doesn’t by default annoyingly and hardly any cars have it specced so actually for me the infotainment is probably about even
 

Spleen Sauce

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chanjy said:
Yeah the latest A6 isn’t in budget and I find the suspension a bit solid in Audis too

The widescreen COMAND system in the Merc has Carplay while the 5 doesn’t by default annoyingly and hardly any cars have it specced so actually for me the infotainment is probably about even
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A4 Avant too small? Decent spec B9 within budget. Enjoyed my S4 a lot, that’s got CarPlay and Android Auto (albeit not touch screen which I was fine with)
 
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