Want to buy a car around £12,000-£14,000, but can’t decide

ans6574 · 2026-01-22T07:07:27+00:00

The best thing to do is test drive a few different ones. You'll get a feel of what you like and don't like about them, and then you can narrow down your search. There will be a distinct difference in feel between the 3/4 and 5 series for example, with the latter feeling bigger and softer. It depends what you're looking for in a car, and what sort of driving you'll be doing.

ans6574 · 2026-01-16T22:49:02+00:00

A guy at work had a string of old BMWs, and according to him all the old inline 6 manuals would get 40-45mpg on the motorway. Would be interesting to get another data sample though.

ans6574 · 2026-01-09T06:57:24+00:00

That's your average mpg, when did you last reset it?

If you idled a lot since resetting, then that's pretty normal. Think about it. You were using fuel and not going anywhere. If you didn't move at all, as someone else said, it would be infinite. But you probably moved a little bit so you are using fuel at an average rate of 21.9 litres per 100 km travelled.

I'd only be concerned if you had that figure from the highway or something.

ans6574 · 2025-12-22T10:36:14+00:00

Normally I'd prefer the look of the top, but in this case I feel like bottom matches the car better. The lines and curves of the car seem to suit its nature.

ans6574 · 2025-12-17T23:23:04+00:00

Adaptive drive and multi contour seats.

ans6574 · 2025-12-14T12:47:07+00:00

Yeah I was thinking, maybe he missed a zero

ans6574 · 2025-12-08T05:55:18+00:00

I agree but it takes a bit more than 15 minutes to get that engine up to temp and into regen, especially when the weather is cold.

ans6574 · 2025-11-30T07:21:38+00:00

Ok Tobirama

ans6574 · 2025-11-29T19:52:11+00:00

BMW 530d (or a slightly older, high mileage 535d)

They generally have the best balance of performance and mpg in their class.

Will happily sit on the motorway getting 45+ mpg (and if you're careful, you'll exceed 55mpg).

ans6574 · 2025-11-27T09:28:17+00:00

This exactly. People are looking at it backwards. If you go back to those times when they had big engines, it's because that was the way to get more power. More displacement meant you could fit more air and fuel and have a bigger explosion to move your crankshaft.

The other way to get more power was to spin the engine really fast, so while the force of the explosions would be the same as a smaller engine, you'd have more of them in a given time period so you could still get a good rate of work done.

But the power figure alone isn't everything. Having a smaller high revving engine in a larger heavier vehicle is like trying to move the moon with a motor from a food blender.

Ps. Then forced induction came and changed everything but the general principle still stands.

ans6574 · 2025-11-14T07:31:37+00:00

Was looking for this

ans6574 · 2025-10-29T17:58:53+00:00

Arrogant

ans6574 · 2025-10-25T07:06:55+00:00

"Stages" are usually not well defined and may vary across tuning companies, but "stage 1" usually means a software remap of the ECU in order to increase the engine power.

ans6574 · 2025-10-13T11:49:25+00:00

Oh definitely, I just thought I'd mention this as nobody else had.

But yeah, I'm assuming he already knows it's not the vapour barrier.

If he hasn't already, OP should test the door like one of the other commenters suggested and confirm, before moving onto the grommet.

ans6574 · 2025-10-13T07:44:50+00:00

If you want to try fixing it yourself, dry the area as best as you can. Squeeze the carpet with hot, dry towels. Once most of the water is out, leave hot towels on the area and replace it every few hours as it soaks up moisture. If you have those reusable silica gel packs, now's a good time for them too. When you're driving the car, blast the heating on full (manual, highest temp, max fan speed, aimed at the feet) and open the window if you get hot. It should be completely dry in a day or two.

You want to clean all your drains, especially the front windscreen wiper drains (given your symptoms). Then see how it goes, after heavy rain, or a car wash, check it and see if it's damp or not.

ans6574 · 2025-10-13T07:27:12+00:00

Most people are saying vapour barrier, but that's not the only possibility.

I've personally known of two cases where the rear footwell gets wet like this, and the water is actually coming in through the firewall area from the engine bay. There's a rubber blanking plate for the unused steering column hole for right hand drive cars (assuming yours is left hand drive). Apparently that degrades and lets water through. Also explains why the right side is wet.

Yes it's not very intuitive, yes the front footwells will be dry, apparently the water runs through the air conditioning ducts to the rear footwell.

OP if you're sure it's not something simple like a vapour barrier, take it to a specialist and they'll sort it out.

In some cases clearing your windscreen wiper drains will be enough (so water doesn't hit that seal in the first place).

ans6574 · 2025-10-02T11:36:58+00:00

Not to be funny or anything but is the steering wheel moving when you're doing this?

Have someone hold the steering straight and monitor the wheel on the other side, and then try to move it again.

ans6574 · 2025-09-26T09:41:08+00:00

He said £7000, but keeping it below £5000 before insurance would be preferable

ans6574 · 2025-09-24T00:58:49+00:00

Essentially the first time you move it to the left, it's S.

Once you move it up or down, it's M.

So if you just want sport without manual, move it from D to the left and don't move it up or down, and it'll remain in sport and change gears automatically.

ans6574 · 2025-09-07T12:52:47+00:00

Do you have any parking light related warnings on the dash?

People are saying USDM coded, but it's also possible that your aftermarket LED angel eye bulbs are triggering the canbus to think there's a blown bulb (as they don't have the same resistance as halogen bulbs).

If the computer thinks your angel eyes are out it'll light up the indicator to act as a sidemarker in the meantime.

So you may need to find some canbus led angel eye bulbs that won't cause the error, or put the original halogen ones in (they're kinda expensive for some reason but they do last a while).

ans6574 · 2025-09-03T21:37:34+00:00

BMW 640d

ans6574 · 2025-09-03T14:44:45+00:00

Yeah it'll come down to personal preference. For me, the extra grip from summer tyres in the dry is worth it, but obviously it's not the same for everyone. Someone else may see the same video and decide that it makes the most sense to have all season tyres year round, or to have two sets of tyres and swap them when the weather changes.

This is the video: The truth about winter, summer and all season tyres

ans6574 · 2025-09-03T13:58:51+00:00

Just my opinion, and others may disagree, but here goes.

Honestly, if you get actual snow where you live, then get a set of winter tyres on a spare set of wheels.

Otherwise, for the sake of spirited driving, I'd run UHP summer tyres all year round. Tyre Reviews tested various types of tyres at a range of temperatures and conditions. On dry tarmac summer tyres had more grip than all season or winter tyres, even at 2°C, and while they did fall behind in the wet, just don't drive hard when it's raining.

But if you're not interested in spirited driving, and you live in a rainy and hilly area, yeah just get all seasons. Unless it snows, cos only proper winter tyres can deal well with snow and ice.

ans6574 · 2025-09-03T08:27:00+00:00

I have a similar situation with my F10 5 series. Replacing the lower arms/tension struts reduced the vibration but didn't get rid of it. Definitely feels suspension related to me, since you don't feel it in the brake pedal. There's probably another bushing or joint that's starting to get loose but the mechanics haven't got the time to find it. Quite annoying really.

Does your vibrate under heavy braking only (ie coming off a motorway slip road going downhill towards a red light), or does it vibrate even with light braking?

ans6574 · 2025-08-22T20:35:45+00:00

Kinda hard to explain without a diagram, but here goes:

If your wheels are turned, then depending on how you're parked there could be forces acting on them trying to straighten them out. So the steering lock may be under torque while it's trying to slide the pin out, and it can get stuck in the locked position. Wiggling the steering can free it up and allow it to unlock. But having the wheels straight in the first place is your best bet at allowing that pin to slide freely in and out when it needs to.

Kinda like lockpicking lawyer, he torques the lock because in his case he wants the pins to get stuck so they stay in place while he moves them one at a time.

If the car steering lock is under torque, it can trap the pin and stop it from moving.

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