I can afford a 530i, and I don't want it. I considered a lot of cars before getting the Touring, and got it because it was all around the best car I could find. If there is a car that can fit as much or more, and can get as good or better mileage, and can be as or more reliable, I would pay as much or more for it. But the 530i and its close competitor the A6 Avant fail on the last two points. The A4 does better with reliability but still fails on fuel efficiency. The Jetta Sportwagen comes close to the Touring (and my sister got one on the same day I got the Touring), but it fails on the reliability front (and is actually a bit too short for my tastes). The Touring manages to hit all these points well.

As Colorguy points out, what the Touring does not emphasize is driving dynamics. Driving dynamics are good to have (I loved my previous Mazdas for that), but not at the cost of reliability and fuel efficiency for me at this time. I do not need a German nameplate either, although others might think I do because I can afford it.

About resale values, Nova, you may want to check your data. Resale values for BMWs as far as I can tell are not so good. We had a friend who got one, and it was no end in grief for him with endless repairs. When we went to sell it after a few years, he was shocked by how little he could get for it. He told us that it was then that he realized that most people leased rather than bought for that reason.

Specifically, Edmunds values for a 2007 530xi wagon are $23k trade-in and $26k private party. That's about 50% off the original price. Edmunds says a 2007 Elantra (not Touring, but that's as close as we can get for 2007) is worth $7-8k. That's less than 50% off from the original prices that most people would have paid. Certainly it's no worse than the 530i. I believe the Touring will do even better because **reliable** wagons tend to do better in the second-hand market in my experience. I've been looking at the discontinued Mazda6 wagon or the Outback wagon (prior to its horrendous re-design), and they are pricey relative to their original prices. Likewise the more reliable 2007 A4 Avants have only lost 40% of their value vs 50% for the A6 and 530i. When it comes to resale, reliability trumps driving dynamics.

 

And there it is. The Touring is the better car for people that don't care about the driving experience. If you just want a tool to get from A to B then I guess the Touring is great for uninterested drivers that would rather text and talk on a cell phone than enjoy driving. See, for me, I like driving. The driving experience is more important than black and white "hard number" statistics on paper. That's the difference between a person that drives only for transportation and an enthusiast that drives for the love of driving.

And that is why someone would pay more for a 5-series over a Touring.

 

Well, true to VW's reputation, my sister's Jetta Sportwagen TDI, which she bought the same day as I got my Touring on Memorial Day weekend, is already in the shop. It's been laid up there for the last week due to some faulty radiator part, which apparently has to be shipped from Germany. My sister and her husband only knew because the engine was sounding and behaving funny (maybe overheating – hopefully not ruining it permanently before it's been broken in). I have heard it claimed that the Jetta TDI doesn't suffer from nearly as many reliability problems as the petrol engine. My sister's experience suggests that the TDI is still not reliable enough.