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      01-29-2013, 04:45 PM   #81
Mentos
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Drives: 640d GC Msport
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: London

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Are you referring to the 5 th seat in the GC? Because the other two are far from cramped in my experience. In fact during the process of elimination while deciding on a car I took my 6'1" brother to test all the cars. He sat behind me in all of them and had no issues with comfort in the rear. Aside from the 5th seat all my passengers have only had positive comments about comfort in the rear. And these are people that have never been shy about moaning about my penchant for coupes or sports cars with compromised cabins. And their own cars are 5 series, XFs, etc so they have the experience to judge it against standard saloons.

Of course proportions are important as much as height. If you have a particularly long torso, a car with a swooping roofline is obviously not going to work for you. But then you wouldn't be in the market for any of these cars, you're forced to go another way.

As for aesthetics, beauty is obviously in the eye of the beholder. But they are all still cars, with similar proportions and four wheels. I'm not sure what more you'd expect from a car in this segment with this level of practicality to pick it over a bog standard saloon. There are obviously certain physical limitations that restrict design changes to a "curve and a swoop" as you put it.

WRT value again it depends on ones perspective. If I'd opted for a 5 series of equivelant spec I'm likely looking at a £30k loss over 3/4 years, with this car a £40k loss (this is using the baloon payments I was quoted to gauge value after 3/4 years against the best purchase price I was offered for cars to my spec, I actually didn't take finance). Whichever car I chose it was going to cost me a hefty chunk in depreciation, I'd rather at least have the car I really wanted. If value really drove my decision I wouldn't have ticked any options and certainly wouldn't have been looking at the 40d/35d engines. In fact I wouldn't have bought a premium car or a new one :/

Last edited by Mentos; 01-29-2013 at 05:10 PM.. Reason: .
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