I think that's a very apt, if slightly harsh description:

If you had only one car for everything, the C4S would be it, I suppose. But most C4S owners have more than one car.

It's not numb if you absolutely rag it, but you do tend to be going a bit quick by then.

 

I've got a problem with the C4S, no doubt it's a great car but I just don't like what it is.

It looks hard but it's a bit of a poof

E39 M5s on the other hand I really, really like and from reading this wouldn't cost so more to own than my Legacy that it would be a silly idea to treat myself while I can.

Is there any reason you shouldn't tow with one and did they ever do an estate version?

 

special option tow bar afaik - never seen one though

can't see why you couldn't tow, or what you couldn't tow tbh

no estate version by BMW - there were Alpina versions I believe - but Alpinas are usually autos and often have a different engine

not necessarily a bad thing - just different

 

What about a 3.0 V6 tdi Touareg then?

I recently had a trade in price on my 3 yr old one of

 

They made one apparently - for the FD of BMW (or somesuch director).

Something tells me towing with a 400bhp rear wheel drive car wouldn't be very safe?

 

Up until something goes wrong out of warranty.

Then they cost more than a gold plated Legacy with diamond wheelnuts having a full mink retrim.

BMW dealer prices are horrendous, specialist prices are more reasonable but the parts bills are where the heart-stopping moments come.

They didn't do an E39 M5 estate, I had the 540i estate. E34 version of the M5 had an estate version though.

 

Something of a lottery to be sure

But you can learn from this thread

If I was buying again I'd be reassured by lots of bills that demonstrated problems had been solved and many new parts fitted

Everything wears out eventually and it seems that a lot of problems manifest themselves at 60,000-70,000 miles on this car

On the basis of my experience, I would not buy a car below this mileage that had not had signifiicant expenditure on it (unless covered by the BMW warranty)

Better to buy a higher mileage car like mine with all the bills

 

I appreciate it would be a gamble but how does a potential expensive problem compare to the definite huge depreciation I'm suffering now on my Legacy?

It's very unlikely that I'd do it, and it's certainly not something I'd plan for.

It would more likely happen on a the spur of the moment, say if a known car (like Gad's) came on the market at the right time and I was in the right mood.

I'm not very keen on BMWs in general, it's just this particular one for some reason

 

I think that's a pretty common point at which modern cars seem to need money spending on them.

By the time they get to that mileage they're usually out of manufacturer warranty but still new enough for most people to be getting them serviced at a dealer.

Coincidence?

 

Engineered that way I'd suggest