what to replace 06 520d with

st1979

Might need to replace a 520d for my wife depending if its a write off or not. Will not have cash to upgrade. I would like her get same again. But in laws are and were dead against the bmw from the start due to rear wheel drive and how bad in the snow they were. Having always had bmw i put that down to bad drivers. My wife is keen on another due to how well it performed in the crash. She does a 90 mile round trip commute to Dublin and has 2 babies and likes a bit of luxury in the car. Any thing worth looking at apart from another 520. Her parents want her to have 4wd but i reckon it will cost a fortune in fuel. She avg 43mpg in her old car which was auto which i think is very good. I know it can get more as i done 52mpg but she is a little aggressive behind the wheel!!

godtabh

What have your inlaws got to do with it?

If you are happy with the 520d why not stick with it?

Bigus

You won't beat the 520 d everything else will be inferior.

kirving

Do you live in the countryside? Despite a couple of bad events over the past few years, snow is actually very rare here. It shouldn't be a deciding factor in what car you choose unless you really are very isolated and would be cut off by light enough snow.

The RWD and snow problem is somewhat of a myth. People noticed a BMW being stuck far quicker than a little Micra, because the Micra wasn't marketed as the ultimate driving machine, and isn't expected to handle snow.

Traction control on a RWD will help, but winter tyres are what make all the difference. You can be sure that 95% of those BMW's stuck were on factory fitted summer tyres which are useless in the snow.

A 520d is a 4 star car, but that's tested against a concrete barrier. It should do better than another 4 star car in a crash, since it's heavier.

If someone is telling you to get a smaller car that will do better in snow, remember that you can choose not to go out in snow, but an accident comes to you. Plus, the inlaws probably don't want you having a BMW. :-)

Kenny Logins

What snow?

Idbatterim

bloody ridiculous ignorant comment from the inlaws. If there is snow or ice, just put few brocks or few bags of sand etc in the boot over the rear driver side tyre. What budget will you have OP? BM drivers dont bang on the 99.9% of days how we are driving far more pleasurable cars to drive than the average s**tbox that is the mainstay or Irish cars...

st1979

Idbatterim wrote: »

bloody ridiculous ignorant comment from the inlaws. If there is snow or ice, just put few brocks or few bags of sand etc in the boot over the rear driver side tyre. What budget will you have OP? BM drivers dont bang on the 99.9% of days how we are driving far more pleasurable cars to drive than the average s**tbox that is the mainstay or Irish cars...

Have to agree.. She got this car for less than a s/h micra cost. And it was bloody gorgeous. Wife gave out about it because of warning lights coming on. Drove me mad. They were things like low fuel low outside temp etc. Just cause she was used to a car that had no warning lights at all.
An ol crash made her see sence considering her car didnt lose control when other cars spun around her and 1 happened to hit her due to ice. And it took the impact well protecting her.
But i think your right little else out their that is economic and luxury in our price bracket..

Frankie Lee

How about a 08 or 09 Legacy?

Connorzee

Keep the car, change the wife..

MetzgerMeister

If the car being a petrol isn't an issue, consider the Mazda6 MPS. I know that coming from BMW's, it will be below them but its still a great car.

It's a 2.3 turbo 4 wheel drive saloon. Leather seats, air con etc. as standard. It's extremely comfortable so although the luxury wouldn't be as high as a well spec'd BMW, it's there nonetheless.

Del2005

st1979 wrote: »

Might need to replace a 520d for my wife depending if its a write off or not. Will not have cash to upgrade. I would like her get same again. But in laws are and were dead against the bmw from the start due to rear wheel drive and how bad in the snow they were. Having always had bmw i put that down to bad drivers. My wife is keen on another due to how well it performed in the crash. She does a 90 mile round trip commute to Dublin and has 2 babies and likes a bit of luxury in the car. Any thing worth looking at apart from another 520. Her parents want her to have 4wd but i reckon it will cost a fortune in fuel. She avg 43mpg in her old car which was auto which i think is very good. I know it can get more as i done 52mpg but she is a little aggressive behind the wheel!!

Got to love some peoples mentality. Don't buy a BM cause of the snow, what snow?, but buy a 4x4 as it can go better in snow and ice. Forgetting that the most important thing a car does is stop, a 4x4 won't stop any better on ice/snow than a car.

4x4s are more dangerous than cars yet they think it's safer to have a unsafe vehicle, with 2 kids in the back, on the off chance that we get a bit of snow. And even if we get snow unless it's got proper tires it'll be just as easy to get stuck and easier to loose control.

TisTerribleJoe

In laws, eh?

joe 77

Just out of interest what do your inlaws drive ?

The Bishop Basher

joe 77 wrote: »

Just out of interest what do your inlaws drive ?

I'm betting its a Toyota

Kenny Logins

Swanner wrote: »

I'm betting its a Toyota

Yaris.

Supergurrier

Lol Inlaws can go take a jump, they prolly think a Nissan Juke is a reliable 4x4 instead of a crumple zone

Photoshop

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

If the car being a petrol isn't an issue, consider the Mazda6 MPS. I know that coming from BMW's, it will be below them but its still a great car.

It's a 2.3 turbo 4 wheel drive saloon. Leather seats, air con etc. as standard. It's extremely comfortable so although the luxury wouldn't be as high as a well spec'd BMW, it's there nonetheless.

90 mile commute in a 270bhp 4wd 2.3l turbo petrol would be interesting, but expensive?

166man

Swanner wrote: »

I'm betting its a Toyota

Definitely a 131 C reg Toyota Corolla 1.4d4d in Silver with mudflaps being used about once every two weeks...:D

Blazer

Get another 520D..they're a solid car and you can't put a price on the safety of your wife and kids.
what are the in-laws suggesting? and then have a look at ncap and see how well the 520D does..

below is the comments for the E60. I'd tell the in-laws to sod off and mind their own business. I have one myself and very happy with it.

The 5-Series has a very strong and stable passenger safety cage. It achieved a four-star rating after Euro NCAP allowed frontal, side and pole retests following improvements to the car’s steering column, footrest, door trim, door latch, airbags and software. High loads were recorded by the driver dummy’s chest instrumentation in the frontal impact. Side impact protection was better, though. An intelligent seat belt reminder operates for the driver and front passenger. Both child occupants were protected, but the car’s ability to protect pedestrians was dire.

Front impact
The body proved to be strong, showing only minor distortion of the passenger cell. The driver’s door could be opened almost normally after the crash. Intrusion at the footwell was minimal and control of the pedals was good. The restraint system includes dual stage non-tethered airbags for the driver and passenger, driver seat belt with dual pre-tensioner and a single pre-tensioner for the passenger belt. Both are combined with load limiters. A deformable element designed for higher energy impacts and positioned at the top of the steering column completes the system. Despite a good deal of design effort in the knee impact area, there remains some risk of injury for the driver and passenger knees.

Side impact
The door-mounted side airbag and head airbag tube worked efficiently but protection was mixed: the driver’s head and pelvis fared better than his chest and abdomen.

Child occupant
Both children were seated in Fair Bimbo Fix restraints; rear-facing for the 18-month-old and forward-facing for the 3-year-old. Both children were well protected in the frontal and side impacts. A pictogram was fitted to the passenger door pillar and a text label to the screen. Neither was permanent nor warned against placing a child in a rear-facing restraint opposite an active airbag.

Pedestrian
Protection for pedestrians was extremely poor, scoring just two points. BMW need to take the protection of pedestrians much more seriously than this.

Theanswers

Del2005 wrote: »

And even if we get snow unless it's got proper tires it'll be just as easy to get stuck and easier to loose control.

I can tell you now for a fact that any 4x4 will be far better than a similar car in snow. It's what their designed for.

Have a look at this youtube Link. It's of a 2003 RR driving up an icy road covered in snow. If you look down the comments you will note he says barely legal tyre's.

I will challenge anyone with 2wd (Brand new tyres) on any surfaced road with snow/ ice in my 4x4 with old tyres. Mine will handle much better/ not get stuck.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WycNOq9J1U4

Del2005

Theanswers wrote: »

I can tell you now for a fact that any 4x4 will be far better than a similar car in snow. It's what their designed for.

Going on snow or ice isn't the problem it's the stopping that counts and unless you've got proper tyres you're not stopping a 4x4 easier than a car.

Theanswers wrote: »

Have a look at this youtube Link. It's of a 2003 RR driving up an icy road covered in snow. If you look down the comments you will note he says barely legal tyre's.

I will challenge anyone with 2wd (Brand new tyres) on any surfaced road with snow/ ice in my 4x4 with old tyres. Mine will handle much better/ not get stuck.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WycNOq9J1U4

It's a video of a dark icy road. I can't see what tyres are on it and I couldn't care less what they said they have on it as it's the internet and it's full of lies.

The driver is what counts on snow or ice more than the vehicle.

Just give me a few minutes to pop down to my local tyre fitters to get a set of studded snow and muds and I'll take you up on your challange

st1979

joe 77 wrote: »

Just out of interest what do your inlaws drive ?

New skoda octavia. Which i reckon is treble the cost of what we paid for the bmw. Fact is we got a budget and want a large economic plus nice car. And we are not exactly remote being 2 miles from the motorway. They suggest Honda crv. But they are comparing a crv someone has that is 2011 model. I dont imagine they will be in our budget (12k)

Seamu$

st1979 wrote: »

New skoda octavia. Which i reckon is treble the cost of what we paid for the bmw. Fact is we got a budget and want a large economic plus nice car. And we are not exactly remote being 2 miles from the motorway. They suggest Honda crv. But they are comparing a crv someone has that is 2011 model. I dont imagine they will be in our budget (12k)

As others have said, stick with the 520d. If you really want to change I suggest the Audi A6, only comparable car IMO. I have an 06 one and love it, it's great to drive & very reliable.

bbbbb

st1979 wrote: »

.... My wife is keen on another due to how well it performed in the crash....

That alone would be enough reason for most people.