BMW’s 5 Series has been hovering around the top of the executive car class, or atop it, since it came out in 1972. It regularly swats away top quality opposition from the likes of Mercedes-Benz and Audi and is currently What Car?’s Large Executive Car of the Year.

Go into a BMW dealership for a 530d and you could drive out nearly £40,000 poorer. Find the right broker deal, however, and you can save nearly £8000.

What will you get for your £33,700? For a start, effortless urge from the 530d diesel engine. The 520d has more than enough performance for many, but the big diesel has just as much real-world speed as BMW’s headline petrol models.

The 5 Series cabin is a lovely place to be thanks to the excellent quality of materials, easy controls, and one of the market’s top infotainment and navigation systems in BMW's iDrive. Storage space is perhaps a bit under par but the room for humans in the front or back is plentiful.

If you have no plans to drive hard along country roads and don’t mind your car feeling less wieldy than the competition, you’ll find the standard 5 Series suspension more than acceptable. Choose a stiffer suspension option if body control in corners is more important to you than ultimate cushy comfort. Ticking the Variable Damper Control (VDC) box on the options list will usefully enhance the ride and handling mix.

The pedals will be offset to one side in a manual gearbox car, and you should also bear in mind that BMW's reliability record is not spotless. Good alternatives include the refined and roomy Audi A6 or the stylish Mercedes-Benz CLS. Both will be good value – especially if you can match this £8000-off broker deal.

BMW 530d SE Step Auto saloon

Discounted price: £33,718

Saving on list price: £7987

Broker: carfile.net