Thinking about moving over to BMW

[mikeyboy]

I honestly never thought I would say this but I'm thinking of buying a 2012 plate 520d m sport. I currently drive a b8 A4 S-Iine saloon 1.8 TFSI (160). The car I had before this was an 8p A3 2.0 TDI (140). Now until earlier on today I would always say that my next car was going to be a C7 A6 as I've been obsessed with Audi for the last 4 years now. But today and don't ask me why I stopped in at a BMW dealer out of curiosity and I must say they had a few nice motors on their forecourt. The one that stood out the most was a silver 520d m sport saloon with only 20k miles on the clock for £20995. I'm thinking about arranging a test drive but I'm worried that as soon as I drive it I'll end up buying it. I have been reading some reviews on the 5 series and it does seem to be rated ever so slightly higher than the A6. Has anyone on here got any general experience of bmw on a whole and would you's think this is a good move? Until today I always thought bmw's were the ugliest cars on the road but after having a good look at them In the flesh I've kind of fallen for them lol. I will always love Audi's for as long as I live but I'm just thinking it would be nice to try something else. What do you guys think? Is it a wise move? Any honest input will be much appreciated. Cheers.

 

[kanecullen89]

I don't mind BMW's at all. They make some lovely looking cars and they are well built. Plus they're known as a drivers car.
I'm not sure If a 2.0 tdi is a little small for a 5 series? I had a brand new 320d a few months ago as a courtesy car and I must say I found it a little underpowered. But I do drive a 3.0 tdi at the minute.

The main reasons I bought Audi instead of bmw is the interior quality, the Quattro, the sound system and the dab reception (sounds strange I know).
The interiors are really awful in my opinion, especially compared to the likes of Audi. BMW interiors are just a slight bit different to what they were releasing in the early 90's. Not a place I'd want to spend a lot of time.
I often don't get the choice not to go to work. I have to be there so during the few harsh winters we've had I really struggled in my old fwd car. I've seen many many rwd cars stranded so I wanted Quattro reassurance. I know that winter tyres etc on a bmw are good but that's hassle and extra expense.
The sound systems in bmw (only has standard) was awful. I'm not saying that the standard sound system in the Audi if anything to write home about but it sounds 1000x better than the bmw system.
Finally on to the dab. I know it's silly but on my journey to work, the 2 BMW's I've used really struggled with dab reception to the point where it would be fm only on my route to work. In my Audi I have brilliant signal all the way to work and it's much nicer listening to the wide range of dab stations rather than crappy fm.

 

[mikeyboy]

I don't mind BMW's at all. They make some lovely looking cars and they are well built. Plus they're known as a drivers car.
I'm not sure If a 2.0 tdi is a little small for a 5 series? I had a brand new 320d a few months ago as a courtesy car and I must say I found it a little underpowered. But I do drive a 3.0 tdi at the minute.

The main reasons I bought Audi instead of bmw is the interior quality, the Quattro, the sound system and the dab reception (sounds strange I know).
The interiors are really awful in my opinion, especially compared to the likes of Audi. BMW interiors are just a slight bit different to what they were releasing in the early 90's. Not a place I'd want to spend a lot of time.
I often don't get the choice not to go to work. I have to be there so during the few harsh winters we've had I really struggled in my old fwd car. I've seen many many rwd cars stranded so I wanted Quattro reassurance. I know that winter tyres etc on a bmw are good but that's hassle and extra expense.
The sound systems in bmw (only has standard) was awful. I'm not saying that the standard sound system in the Audi if anything to write home about but it sounds 1000x better than the bmw system.
Finally on to the dab. I know it's silly but on my journey to work, the 2 BMW's I've used really struggled with dab reception to the point where it would be fm only on my route to work. In my Audi I have brilliant signal all the way to work and it's much nicer listening to the wide range of dab stations rather than crappy fm.

Yeah I did wonder would the 2 litre be a bit sluggish but it produces about 181bhp and 280 lb ft of torque, 0-60 takes 7.6 seconds and has a top speed of 143 mph which is quick enough for me to be honest and the A6 I was planning was the 2.0 TDI (177) anyway. I know what you mean about interior quality though. Audi is king in that department 100%, I've always hated bmw's interior but this 5 series looks alright to be honest. The rwd does worry me a bit, especially when winter comes round again. This 5 series is also an automatic, I've never driven an automatic before but from what I've read the auto box on this car is a lot better than the manual. Maybe I should also try and arrange a test drive in an A6 as well to compare the two myself.

 

[mikeyboy]

Here's a couple of pics anyway

 

[miatang]

BMW are good cars if you can look past the interior.

 

[s33nyboy12]

The 520d is a good all round car..... Unless you do a lot of mileage it might be worth considering a petrol?
I'm a massive fan of both Audi and Bmw but I have to say after recently buying a new bmw ( see sig) I wouldn't look back drivers wise. So much better to drive IMO , I love audi and I love quattro cars but bmw do x drive 4wd now in most models and their similar spec cars/ engines are equally good if not better until you get to the s/rs audi variants or m3/m4/m5/m6 where Quattro wins IMO.

To sum up the 5 series is a good motor 2.0d plenty of punch and good mpg, as for my new BMW 125d ugly car but brilliant to drive being twin turbo auto it's best of both worlds for power and economy 0-60 around 6 seconds iirc and nearly 60mpg .

Sean