BMW diesel mileage

C_Mababejive

Why bother? Just buy a honda civic R series if you like and enjoy solid engineering and reliability

agrinnall

There seems to be some evidence that the N47 cam chain issues continued well after 2011, possibly because BMW appear to have refused to accept that the cause is a manufacturing issue so making a production change would be admitting that they are responsible. I do take the point that the percentage of failures is probably very small, so I think if bought with reasonable care there's a pretty good chance that there won't be any problems. It's just a pity that BMW would really like to wash their hands of the whole thing rather than accepting they got it wrong and covering the repair to any car that has been serviced according to their schedule.

And while we all accept that manufacturer fuel consumption figures have to be taken with a large pinch of salt, unless Peater and Iceweasel can point at real life figures for x18d and x20d figures I'll go with the published ones (taken from Autotrader):

2011 318d(143): Urban 52.3, Extra Urban 70.6, average 62.8
2011 320d ED (163): 56.5, 78.5, 68.9
2009 320d (177): 47.1, 68.9, 58.9
2011 320d: (184): 47.9, 70.6, 60.1

agrinnall

C_Mababejive wrote: »

Why bother? Just buy a honda civic R series if you like and enjoy solid engineering and reliability

Because I'm not a 15 year old boy, I'm an adult who has done various hot hatches in the past (and owned a Boxster for 2 years) and now want a sensible car with a bit more oomph and interest than the Fiat Panda and Fiesta that have been my last two cars.

Iceweasel

Here's the real rife figures for 216 people who have a 320D

http://www.spritmonitor.de/en/overview/6-BMW/37-3er.html?fueltype=1&vehicletype=1&constyear_s=2009&constyear_e=2013&power_s=132&power_e=142&page=2&gearing=2

agrinnall

Iceweasel wrote: »

Here's the real rife figures for 216 people who have a 320D

http://www.spritmonitor.de/en/overview/6-BMW/37-3er.html?fueltype=1&vehicletype=1&constyear_s=2009&constyear_e=2013&power_s=132&power_e=142&page=2&gearing=2

Thanks, that's an interesting site. So the 320d mean consumption is 44mpg, and for the 318d it's 45mpg. At lot worse than the manufacturer figures, but it does show that the 318 does (just) beat the 320.

Mobeer

I doubt 1 mpg is statistically significant.

I'd be more concerned about how the car has been driven than how many miles it has done in total. For example a 5 year old diesel car with 100k miles has probably been sitting for long periods on a motorway, and quite possibly getting less wear and tear than a similar car that has done 40k stop-start miles around town.

My own 118d did 110k miles in just over 5 years without any significant work needed and immaculate when traded in. You won't find any posts from me ranting on about how its engine didn't go wrong, nor will you find similar critical posts from other happy owners.

But with 122hp it wasn't exactly sporty. A newer 120d or 230d with 184 hp would have quite a bit more performance.

Iceweasel

I'm glad you found the spirit monitor site useful.

My statistics for over 12k miles in the last year are included on there.

I'm in the top 5 to 10% of the returns with an average of approx 52 mpg.

I must admit/qualify my figures by saying that all of my miles are either motorway or rural country roads - and that I'm almost never in a city traffic situation with loads of roundabouts and fuel wasting traffic lights.

But then that's why I bought a diesel.

If I did short journeys or a lot of town work I would have bought a petrol engined model.

mattyprice4004

harveybobbles wrote: »

Gosh. bit of a raver aint ya?!

Agreed. While nice cars, there's certainly nothing fun about a 4 pot diesel in an everyday saloon.
I should know, I have an MG ZT with the M47 engine - even with more power, a 4 pot diesel just isn't that much fun.

They're good cars, but interesting or fun isn't the word I'd use. You'll fit in well at the motorway services though, they're the toner salesman's car of choice at the moment!

Spendless_Dosh

Colleagues driving the 2.0ltr diesel engined cars (320 & 318) that age suffered flywheel failures within the first 50k miles which were replaced under warranty, at 3 years + you'd be outside the warranty period so it might be worthwhile considering a 3rd party warranty if you're going to go down this route. Alternative is some very expensive repair bills. BMW have very little interest in cars 3 years old or more so don't expect any support from the dealer.

The 330d is worth looking at, I got avg of 50mpg (mainly motorway) and 35-40mpg around town. The 3ltr diesel seems to be a robust design with a good reputation. My colleagues were only getting around 5mpg better with their 2ltr engined cars.

harveybobbles

Or buy a 330i and get mid to late 30's and a bit more fun