Thinking of buying a 5 series

[Rich]

Hi, I have never owned a BMW before so this seems the ideal place to ask a few questions!! It looks like my annual mileage could be increasing to 20-25k so I want to get a mile muncher car that will easily cruise the motorways. Looking for certain spec - must have tiptronic, climate, cruise etc. At the moment a 5 series is sitting on top of my list. I'm thinking around a V or W reg for as little as I can find a decent one!! (don't want to spend too much on a car that will end up being worth nothing) May even have to be the touring model as well.

I currently drive an Audi S3 so I'm used to a car with pretty good acceleration so I'm thinking 525D or 530D will be best - decent acceleration on the motorway yet hopefully still quite good on the fuel! So my questions!! -

For that age I'm looking at cars with at least 80k on the clock. I'm guessing they'll be good for at least 200k without too many major problems?? (I'm looking ot keep the car until it pretty much runs into the ground)

Are all 5 series auto's tiptronic?

What sort of fuel consumption can you get from the 525 and 530 (in real life driving)

Fuel consumption seems minimal according to bmw specs - what about performance?

Thanks for any help

Rich

[schnitz]

try this link reviews it might help