We had a 635d Sport, a 2009 model.

The engine is magnificient for a diesel, it is so smooth and the auto box is sublime. It looks pretty good too. But...

The drive is OK, I wouldn't call it inspiring to drive but it is not bad either, it is just OK. An ultimate driving machine it is not though, it tends to crash over bumps and you know that you have done a long journey in it.

Forget about the rear seats, you can't fit anyone or anything in there, maybe if you have VERY small children they might fit but it is not very comfortable and having to move the front seats is a pain and they don't move very far. If you have the head rest up, it then rubs on the headlining when you move the seat forward to get people in the back so you have to move it down to put the seat forward. Very annoying.

The car is hopeless in snow unless you have winter tyres. The battery dies overnight in winter because of the amount of computers running trying to defrost the car or keep it warm meaning when you actually need the thing to go somewhere, it won't start. But worse than that, because of the lack of the frame on top of the door, the glass in the door gets frozen to the rubbers so you can't open the door. In addition, the window automatically opens slightly away from the rubber when you open the door but if the glass is iced up, it can't move down and it burns the electric motor out.

The runflats are god awful, get them changed ASAP.

Plus you have the whole problem of them being easily stolen by twunts with a computer and cloning your key.

As a 2 seater GT they are OK, but as a family car, no. We ended up using our 2002 Jag XJ V8 more, it was more comfortable, refined, and better built than the BMW.

Go and test drive one, they are OK but not sure they will fulfil your needs. I would get the 735d, same wheelbase but faaaar more practical and has the best bit of the 635d, the engine/gearbox.

 

Thanks - excellent feedback. My 2 are quite small now (9+10) but will only grow, plus will need to cart others. Certainly a few drawbacks there.
Having said that, was yours new?
The ones I am looking at are around the £18k mark, and are extremely well specced (look like ex management cars). On balance, would you have been/be prepared to live with some of those things with the car at a different price point?

 

my 'other' car at the moment is in 6 series guide, but a little fruitier than the 635. It's a nice car, rear space is small, 2+2 at best really as said above.

£18k seems a lot to me although approved used usually ads circa 10% if not more to the screen price.

It seems that you want a little more space, that being the case, the 6 series is not that great, which is odd as it's HUGE!

The DME went in ours last week and at a cool £1500 to replace and reprogramme it was somewhat frustrating. If you do go BMW approved used, check clauses in the warranty as I know a lot is not included.

 

The 6 series is directly at odds with the requirements listed in your orginal post

What about a fastish estate, something like an S4?

Unfortunately with a modern, I don't think you can get away from a choice of warranty, contingency fund or hoping for the best

 

I think it was 9 months old and like the one you are looking at, was an ex-management car.

It was my Dad's car but I drove it a lot when the S2k was off the road due to Amuse exhaust issues...midbox kept cracking!

We would never buy another one. Far too many problems with the one we have and our 11 year old XJ8 is far superior so why go backwards...again.

You can pick up XJ8s now for chips and then you can save the rest of your money for filling the thing up!

 

Yep - absolutely at odds, hence my "throwing criteria out with budget post".
I do agree that anything reasonably modern and desirable will need a warranty of some sort.

I'm probably going to have a look at one this weekend just to see if it gets it out of my system.

 

Just get an RS4 for less than £10k and be done with it.

 

Any RS at less than £10k is going to be un-warrantable, and a ticking time bomb for big bills.
Even though it's an incredibly attractive car, the wallet says no.
As I was having a conversation with someone recently on older RS's popping up on PH and elsewhere....
"if you can afford to run it properly and have the cash to pay the huge sums involved when something goes wrong, without scrimping, you can probably afford a new or nearly new one"
There isn't a sensible market for the cars that I can see. Sadly, they'll fall into the hands of people who think ling long/part worn tyres are a good way to keep running costs down....

An XJ for buttons makes slightly more sense, but is still deliciously barmy

 

It's an interesting point. I think most of these cars are simply overpriced. I'd consider a high mileage RS4 at £5K and accept the risks and bills. But at £12K+, a typical asking price, no thanks. Probably cheaper and definitely safer to lease a new one.

 

Isn't that part of the rationale behind M1BJR tuning an old 335 instead of buying an M3?

The latter starts to look a bit pointless, unless new...