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Low service bills, reduced crash repair costs and the likelihood of strong residual values should make the new 5-Series relatively inexpensive to run for a car of this type, especially if it's the 530d, which is good for 40.9mpg on the combined cycle. The 530i, on the other hand, returns 29.7mpg, and the 520i 31.4mpg. Its lower CO2 levels will make the diesel very attractive to company car drivers. If you can afford it, the 5-Series should make a wise used buy. However, the quality glitches in the pre-production models, and those suffered by the first examples of the 7-Series, suggest that it might be wise to avoid buying very early examples. There won't be any secondhand Fives around for a long time yet anyway, but look out for well-specified ex-dealer demonstrators; BMW dealers will hold the best, low-mileage used stock. The new 5-Series is by no means cheap, but even the base 520i is well-equipped (bar some slightly cheap-looking fabric seats - you may well want to add leather) and it feels like a prestige product. There's a large gap between this and the considerably dearer 530i and 530d, but the upcoming 525i and 520i should address that problem. Bear in mind, though, that by the time you've added leather seats, bi-xenon headlights, metallic paint and some of the high-tech features, prices will be pretty steep, not that Active Steering and Dynamic Drive are absolute essentials. Spec it right, however, and a Five will hold its value very well.
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