Jamie91

Cheers Simon. What's the road tax difference between the two then ? I am leaning more towards auto now :) Have you thought about remapping yours?

PS Ignore the car stats on my profile, it wouldn't let me post Honda Accord

Hi :) Long story short my old car (Honda Accord manual diesel) is going to be written off. I'm looking at a 5 series E60/E61. Looking to spend £6-8k I do 8k miles a year, 2/3 urban, 1/3 motorway. So on the face of it I'd be best suited to petrol. However on autotrader there aren't a great deal of petrol 5s, and those few on there are more pricey than the derv. I'm leaning towards the 530D at the moment (will test drive both of course). I see that the range was facelifted in 2007, with the power upped from 215 bhp to 230 bhp, and the fuel economy +5MPG. Is it worth paying ~£8k for a 2007 facelift 530 D over ~£6k for a 2004 pre-facelift 530D ? Finally auto or manual ? I drive a manual at the moment, but I like the idea of the auto. Does the auto come at a major fuel economy premium to the manual ? Thanks