much like they were saying :
Volume, amortisation of development costs... The E39 was sold in a LOT more markets, and almost certainly an order of magnitude higher production figures.
Hardly, Dave...
Engine-for-engine, the 75 was cheaper than an E46 3-series, let alone the E39 5-series. Usually, the list prices (yes, list, before discounts which would have been *easy* on a 75 and far more limited on a BMW) mean that you'd have been in a 3-series with an engine at least one step smaller than the Rover.
Hell, in some cases, you'd have to settle for a *Compact*... Oops, no, sorry, if you wanted a 2.5 BMW, you would STILL have been FIFTEEN HUNDRED quid short of a Compact compared to a ZT 190+. EIGHT and a half grand short of a 525i Sport. For the same money as the ZT, you'd still be two grand short of a base spec manual 520i.
My opinion about higher gas pricesWith all this concern about gas prices going up I've got my own opinions. I'm 35 and when I was a teenager I was making about $3.35 an hour at Winn Dixie. Wow, I...
01-51 picked at random.
2.0 auto - prime company car territory. 01-51 520i Auto - new £24,760 01-51 75 2.0 Clbuttic Auto - new £19,070 01-51 316i Auto - new £19,240
2.0 top-spec auto - you've just been promoted. 01-51 520i SE Auto - new £26,370 01-51 75 2.0 Connoisseur SE Auto - new £22,870 01-51 318i SE Auto - new £22,185
Something a bit sportier - 2.5 Sporty. 01-51 525i Sport - new £29,660 01-51 ZT 190+ - new £21,095 01-51 325ti Compact - new £22,640
Top-spec estate. 01-51 525i SE Touring Auto - new £29,980 01-51 75 Tourer 2.5 Connoisseur SE Auto - new £25,120 01-51 320i SE Touring Auto - new £24,730
I've deliberately not included diesels, as the E39 had the 2.5TD at that point against the 2.0 of the 75 - but (again, 01-51) a base spec 320d manual at £21,415 is about on a par with a top spec Connoiseur SE CDT Rover at £21,370. The base spec Rover's only £17,570.
Want a diesel with an autobox? The Rover's £22,575 is far nearer the 320d SE *Compact* Auto at £22,125 than the "proper" 3-series at £23,68 plus 15, let alone the 525d SE Auto at £28,185...
Oh, then there's the (2004-53) £32,747 for a ZT v8 SE vs the (2003-03) £40,450 for a 540i Sport... Let alone the 52 grand for an M5...
I think I could live without that last (unusable) bit of welly for twenty grand left in my pocket.
List, of course.
And that's all before you raid the notorious BMW options list to make the damn thing resellable.
So, yes, a 75 - at list price - might have cost about the same as an E39, but it would have been a two-year-old base spec E39.
The *really* big unanswered question about the dissolution of Rover, though...
What IS Inspector Barnaby going to be driving round Midsomer?
