Hi All,

I've been going over this in my head for a few weeks now and just can't seem to make sense of it... so I'm sending it to the floor so to speak...

First off some rule/guidelines:

1) I don't want a wagon
2) The Allroad is a wagon
3) The S6 is a wagon


Here's the situation.... I bought the A6 in January for use a daily driver. My plan was to do some mods to the 540 which would make it less appropriate for the daily rush hour commute. Well, I never got around to mod'ing the 540... and then an M5 allocation came along. I ordered the M5 and it will be here in the middle of December (if it ever makes it onto a boat).

At the same time I decided to get the M5 I reflected on my auto usage and realized that having two sports sedans might not be the best automotive stable. I decided to sell the A6 and get some sort of SUV... not for off road use, but for slightly increased cargo room. I decided on the X5 after a couple of weeks of looking and test driving (yes, I looked at everyting). It's still fun to drive, but offers more cargo room. I know that a number of sport wagons have slightly larger cargo volumes, but see #1 above.

So I set off to sell the A6... in fact I've been trying to sell for the last 4 weeks. I've had a number of interested buyers who just couldn't bear to part with > $40K on a used car. All acknowledged that it was worth that amount... but they just couldn't do it... the ones who could decided to buy new. As I was trying to sell the car I started noticing things about it that started driving me crazy (most likely as a way to justify the sale of the car). [I also know how to resolve all of these issues]

Now that I'm having trouble finding a buyer I'm again considering keeping the car. I really do love the car and it has been rock solid. Do I want to give that up for some additional cargo room?

Ugghhh! I hate this. I really do like the X5, but I'm wondering if I need the room... I've only needed to borrow a friend's truck twice in the last 12 months.

Payments between the two will be the same. Insurance will be about the same. Gas will be about the same.

It comes down to do I really need it....

So answer this... say you had the ultimate sports sedan in the garage. Would you drive the next best thing as a daily driver, or a small SUV (for the occasions you need to haul more than groceries)?

Any and all opinions welcome!

Thanks,
-Andrew

M5? Are you not using the new M5 for daily commutes? I think the Audi will sell eventually, and maybe you can get another Audi that fits a nitch in your garage at a later date. Maybe the cabriolet? : ) Maybe a beefed up TT? Who knows, but the M5 is defintely higher on the evolutionary change than the 4.2.

Of course, I could never afford to have all those cars in my garage, so I guess that gives you more options. Put it this way, if out of all the beautiful cars you have, I could keep two:

BMW M5 (Best Lux Perf Sedan in the World)
BMW X5 (Best SUV in the World - IMO)

-st

My cousin has a X5, and I ride in it all the time, and everytime I'm in it, I say to myself, I would rather be in my A6. Plus, I know the payments may be the same but they are definitely not the same cars.

I like the X5, don't get me wrong, it's just not a A6. The cargo difference is marginal at best.

Clearly the X5 is a great handler for an SUV, so in that way it would be quite fun even when you had to drive it...but I really question its true utility...the rear of that thing is REALLY small...not just a slight difference between it and wagons and other "real" SUVs. I think of the X5 as a 5 series short wagon up high...with very poor "utility", very much non-SUV fun, but not really practical or sensible for your needs as either a daily driver or occasional hauler.

Obviously, you have a million choices, but if in your situation, I'd:

1. Keep the "beater" A6 as the daily driver
2. Use the M5 for fun, going out, picking up chicks, and challenging S6s ;)
3. Cancel that X5...adds nothing except a new fun toy
4. Stay friendly with your friends, that's one of the reasons people have friends, so they can count on them when they need them.
5. Don't buy a wagon, you don't like them.
6. If you're really stuck for a utility vehicle to haul crap around, get a pick 'em-up truck (Toyota Tundra, my rec) or 4Runner (small), or Sequoia (big) and get a crappy one, so you're not tempted to use it too much...the other two vehicles are so much nicer. Even an American pick 'em-up truck would be OK. ;)

My daily drive can be pretty brutal. Lots of construction, landscape, gravel, and cement trucks on the freeway. The M5 is black and BMWs have soft paint. After 1 year on the freeway my black 540 looks like the surface of the moon. I just can't bear to see that happen to the M5... especially since I know I'm keeping that car until it stops running.

... thus the need for a daily driver ... I agree with you on the X5 - who says bigger can't be fun too.

The big depreciation hit has little to do with any real diminished value or utility. It's simply the proximity of your price to the price of something new. When you are in the $40K+ range, your buyers can afford a few thousand buck more to buy new. I bought my 2.7T from a private seller with 3500 miles on it. I had a high comfort factor because the owner was a 50+ year old woman living in a nice suburban location. Almost no chance that the car was abused, so I was able to justify a near-new price.

If I saw your car parked next to a 330i and 540i, and you had an M5 on order, I'd have a lower sense of security as to the condition of the car, and I'd expect more of a discount from new. I'm not implying that you would abuse the car, it's just that a smart buyer paying near-new prices is going to have his/her antennae up.

would help with the abuse...but I agree, the M5 is awesome, but I'd like to not destroy it on your brutal commute...much better for the "play" times, although I'm sure it'd be hard to walk past it in the morning ;)

It's the "more money than sense, cycles through a new car every year. Car could be abused" situation. good point, I never looked at it that way...

I always looked at it as an insane German car enthusiast who needs to find another hobby:-)
... so I bought a bike, but refuse to mount the rack to the car ;-)

Big giant holes in my vision, they do nothing other than block the road and take up more parking space than anyone should have a right to. And hardly anyone uses them for off road, so why bother? They don't handle as well, (even the X5) as a decent sedan or sport wagon, the X5 doesn't even have much cargo room for its bulk. If you were really interested in the utility and not the sport you would be looking at many other SUV's who are better at it. So if you want sport and handling, maybe time to reassess your feelings towards the Allroad. If you really want utility maybe time to reassess your feelings towards all the other SUV's and even the new 4-door pickups. Then again, the best solution is to keep the A6 and don't become part of the anti-destination league.
No really, that's how I feel! :-)

No-brainer. Keep the 4.2. Sell the 540. A '97 540 should still have pretty good residuals. The 4.2 gives you greater all-weather capability than an SUV, and thankfully, isn't one. I haven't poked around an X5 because of my disgruntled disdain for fashions in general and SUV's in particular, but everyone I've looked at hasn't had much more, or has had even less room than a good sedan.

No need to be part of the herd, the terminally trendy; you love the car and it's rock solid. Enjoy your individuality.

Another thing that found it is with the very low in New car interest rates it's hard not to look at a new car. Especially when we're talking in the $40,000 plus range for a used vehicle. Obviously the financing on a used car will not be as good as a new car. And it appears out is giving some fantastic deals on their new car inventory when would especially with 2002 models right around the corner.
If I had the means to purchase a new M5 I would jump at the chance.
And as far as a daily driver goes, I would buy an inexpensive pickup truck to be able to handle the road to it sounds like you drive on.

A6 and M5 sounds like an excellent garage. It is a shame that wagons are not in your favor, M5 and Allroad (personally, I think it blows away the X5) is almost the ultimate garage. The last thing you could do is wait for the Porsche Cayenne and couple that with the A6, which is a great car. Good luck!!

... the phone rang...

I mulled it over one last time and decided to keep the A6.... then the phone rang with a serious cash buyer. We're meeting this afternoon. D'oh!

.... hmmm I guess I could sell it and get an S4, or a TT, or a... SOMEBODY PLEASE SLAP ME!!!


...just doing my part to keep America rolling:-)

Make the M5 your daily driver, and add a Porsche to the weekend stable. Used 993 C2S or C4S, perhaps. ;)

to complain that both the S6 and allroad are station wagons. <b>Aren't all SUV's bigger station wagon anyway?</b>

... and their Pontiac:-)