New Company Car - BMW 520D SE

[email protected]

So my new company car has arrived.

I was forced by company policy to offload my Audi A7 and take a significant step down as my companies car policy was very restrictive both in car choices and options.

As such, the best option (for me) was the 520D SE with no options on it. This is as stock as stock gets to the point that because nobody ever orders a BMW without any options, it had to be a factory order!

So here it is.

To be fair, as standard you do get Xenons, Sat Nav, Bluetooth, Heated Leather, Cruise, Keyless start, DAB and a fancy LCD dash.

What I am missing from my A7 is the Head Up Display, Bose Sound, Quattro, an automatic gearbox and 2 cylinders. First world problems indeed

Enjoy

                                                                                                                                               

                                                                                                                                               

                                                                                                                                               

                                                                                                                                               

                                                                                                                                       

[email protected]

And inside

                                                                                                                                                 

                                                                                                                                       

FZR400RRSP

Nice
There's still a bit of me wishes I'd ordered a 520D SE instead of my 320ED.
The tax differencr wasn't that much.

mikes48

My heart bleeds for the OP.

I've recently retired after 46 years of employment, mostly as a Chartered Surveyor, and I've never had a company car - but I do like nice cars, so I've bought what I can, and slowly crept up the ladder, all bought with my own (taxed) money.

Currently I have a Jaguar XF 3 litre diesel which I bought used, February 2012, for about £19,500 as far as I recall. I've just finished paying £520 a month for it after trading in a Jaguar S-Type Sport, and handing over a wodge of cash as well - can't remember how much. Bit of a drop I'm afraid from my the S-Type, which had a much better spec, but there you go - you pays your money (or not, if it's a company car) and you takes your choice.

Whilst working I was of course generously subsidised by my employer, receiving 45 pence a mile for business use, which brought in around £400 a year in mileage allowance - tax free! - so I suppose I shouldn't complain. The rate did go up from 40 pence a mile some time during my 7 years with my last employer. OK, a bit less than the rise in fuel prices - but there you go.

I don't do the mileage now, but quite apart from the purchase costs and the depreciation I won't miss paying about £800 a year for tyres for a 60 mile a day commute. I've still got road tax to pay, servicing, breakdown cover, and I try not to think about the ongoing depreciation - although to be fair it's not that bad. To drive the car 20,000 miles a year as a higher rate taxpayer took about £9,500 a year of my gross earnings, not including depreciation.

So it's now costing me about £15 a week to sit on the drive, but I only fill it up about once a month now, rather than every 6 days, so that's a massive saving. I guess if it was a company car it wouldn't be on my drive at all, but on a forecourt somewhere, so at least it's still mine.

I guess the OP pays tax on the benefit in kind. I well recall the tax coming in in the good old days of Denis Healey and his ilk, whereby people earning £8,500 a year or company directors would be charged benefit in kind on their company cars, and I think it's gradually clawed in virtually all company car users since then.

So, enjoy your new BMW, [email protected], as you say, first world problems indeed (tried to add a "wink" but couldn't find it - honest!)

Markee

Hello [email protected] just seen your thread like this one over on the 5post.com forum!

Epicurus

As you say the standard spec is pretty good in the 5, but standard BMW stereos are some of the worst around!

[email protected]

That is what I was expecting however having been running about in various hire cars over the last few weeks I can say the standard stereo on the 5 is better than many (including Mercedes Benz) and some research suggests that the stereo is actually very good however it is let down by mediocre speakers (something I intend to rectify over the next few weeks). It may not be a match for he Bose system on my last car but it's not a total write off

Epicurus

That's a relief then and yes, I've heard people say just changing speakers gives a big improvement.

eob

Nice car.
Like FZR, I wish I had went for the 520 ED instead of my A4 Avant Sline. Hey-ho, only another 14 months until changey time.

Quick question, is that whole dash LCD?
The reason I ask is that my mate did go for the 520 Sport and in the ED that I test drove, only the efficiency meter 'wedge' under the rev counter was LCD and looked a bit out of place in low light because it looked "washed out" with white backlighting. I'm probably not explaining that well, but I checked on the BMW forum that I used to be in and it seemed to be a problem people were complaining about.

Markee

Traditional dials, only the bit under the dials is LCD.

You can get an option (around £500) called Multi Function Display (MFD) where the whole is LCD and changes according to what driving mode you select. Search for BMW MFD on YouTube for some demos.