Could do with some advice on car... OVERSEAS

[Mr Brooksy]

Hi all,

I am living in China, and have been here 2+ months, I'm missing my F6 something fierce!

Anyway the problem I have is, I am looking at buying a car here. The automotive world looks unbelievably different than in Oz! It's far more affected by marketing then back home. Eg, early when Buick arrived on the China car scene a friend of mine was a China manager of Panasonic etc and a friend of his had a Bentley something. Anyway this friend drove his Bentley into a high end restaurant and the parking assistants ran up to the Bentley insisting that they need to park it in case he scratched the brand new Buick...

Back to my problem. Back ground. I only have a certain budged that would allow me to buy a new crappy Chinese brand FWD rubbish box through to a 2nd hand mid to late 2000's Medium sized sedan from Germany.

A few things to remember,
I am 2m tall so anything in Aus smaller than a Falc or Commode I have to contort myself into the drivers seat to fit by 1) moving the seat back most of the way back to get my legs under the dash and move my big feet around the on the peddles etc 2) reclining the back like I am on a deck chair to get my head off the roof and see past the rear view mirror (being able to see past that thing is freaking hard even in a Falc in Commode!) 3) have enough telescope in the steering column to reach comfortably enough with the seat back so far reclined 4) and finally have some kind of view past A and B pillars.
I am a RWD or AWD person (dislike FWD, end of discussion).
Ihate A to B cars.
And finally I'd prefer to spend $ on another tank of fuel than take the freeway if time allows.

So my shortlist that I am considering:
2000 - 2004 BMW 5 series with big Kms, 3 series with respectable kms or possibly 2005 - 2006 3 series with 150K kms.
2003 - 2005 Audi A6 Quattro (hard to find as most are non Quattro) with 100K - 200K kms. They make a A4 and A6 in L version (longer wheel base).
2006 - 2008 Toyota Reiz (RWD and AWD version of the Camry and a basic version of the Lexus IS300 or IS250... Im not sure) 70K - 180K kms.
2002 - 2007 Ford Mondeo (if I MUST have FWD this is my preference having driven a few) 100K - 200K kms.

Im leaning toward the Toyota as its not as boring as all the Toyota's in Aus, with some good features etc. It is a decent size inside and out. And it also presents good modification options as it seems to be the car of choice here to do up that is a good step up from a little buzz boxes.

My heart says German, but with the older car, the much higher kms, BMW my05 electrical known issues and Audi engine oil issues plus higher prices just make them a heart choice not a head choice.

So, you'd think then that I have decided, but that's not the case. I'm still hoping that I can stumble on the perfect BMW... and the Toyota I know very little about apart from a bunch of internet page reviews!

I welcome thoughts and suggestions, and if anyone has more personal experience info on the Reiz (model X in Japan I think) that would be awesome.

Brooksy