Used Car Issue (BMW 118i)

KatieDee

Hello everybody

I was advised by the Consumer Rights board to post this here

I purchased a BMW 1 Series 118i three weeks ago, from a registered dealer. I paid more for the car because I wanted something with low mileage, which would be more comfortable and hopefully a little bit better on fuel than my previous Mini Cooper.

Unfortunately, I am getting well below the average mpg for the car, which is currently sitting between 20 and 21 mpg. I drive the car very sensibly, the tyres are all where they should be and the car (allegedly) received a full service prior to me collecting it. I drive a mixture of motorway and urban driving and the absolutely best I have seen it at is 23mpg. I have filled the car twice (so I could be sure it wasn't just me and get a reasonable idea of mpg without relying on the trip computer) and it has remained the same.

I contacted the seller who asked me to take the car in for him to have a look at. While with me, he called a garage who said that the mpg was perfectly reasonable. I have checked forums, spoken to friends with the same car, even called BMW who have all said it doesn't sound right.

On owning the car a few days, a yellow stain also appeared on the back wheel arch. When I mentioned this to him, he tried to imply somebody had knocked my car. This is clearly not the case and more likely an attempt at them polishing up an existing knock, badly.

I explained that I did not feel 20mpg was acceptable for a car that age, with so few miles, which has been recently serviced. He said he would speak to his manager and call me back.

He didn't. I called him and he said he would call me later as was with a customer. Again, he didn't. I sent a very reasonable email requesting that he calls me but still, I have heard nothing.

I feel a little bit upset. I spent a lot of money on this car and went to a dealer as I thought it would give me better quality and protection.

I have four days left before I owned the car for 30 days. I would like some advice as to whether or not I could refuse the car under the Consumer Rights Act, based on the fact that the car is not running as it should? Or is MPG something that has such a massive spectrum anyway that it isn't good enough grounds?

Alternatively, is there anything which could be causing such high fuel consumption? I'm realistic about it, it's a heavy car, but it does seem low. I can literally see my fuel gauge going down on a journey :eek:

Thank you in advance for your responses.

missile

Mileage depends on how you drive, but 20 seems very poor.

What mileage did you get with your mini? If more than you get with the 1 series, it seems you bought a lemon. I would try and return it.

KatieDee

missile wrote: »

Mileage depends on how you drive, but 20 seems very poor.

What mileage did you get with your mini? If more than you get with the 1 series, it seems you bought a lemon. I would try and return it.

When I first bought the 1 series I won't lie, I was quite heavy footed for a few days. When I saw the fuel usage I quickly changed my tune as I thought it was my driving causing the problem. However, I've gone through two full tanks (resetting the trip computer each time) so I could get a realistic idea of my mileage. I would say I drive extremely sensibly.

With the mini, I got around 30-35mpg (possibly even higher) with exactly the same type of driving. It was four years older than the 1 series too. I know it's a bigger engine and a heavier car, but I did think 20mpg was particularly bad.

I really like the car itself and I was more than happy for him to take it back and have the garage check it out, but he just told me it was norma and that was it, then has ignored me. I figured that was his opportunity to rectify anything if there was an issue.

Apparently the car was fully serviced before I collected it, spark plugs changed, air filters, etc, which has been signed and stamped in the book by the garage. All the issues I could think might be causing the issues are service related - if they hadn't already said they'd serviced it then I would have just put it through a full service in the hope it would fix it. Which leads me to believe it's something more sinister.

tonygold

that really doesn't sound right at all. before my 320 i owned a 118i manual and with mixed town and motorway driving was easily getting an average of 32+ mpg. on a purely motorway run it was over 40mpg.

i drive over 20,000 miles a year and this average only dipped slightly in the winter months (understandable). are you manually working out the mpg (by brim filling twice) or just relying on the trip computer, because they have been known to be wrong.

also to consider, are all your journeys short runs on a cold engine which will always show poor mpg?

pinkshoes

What year is it?

missile

KatieDee wrote: »

With the mini, I got around 30-35mpg (possibly even higher) with exactly the same type of driving. .

It seems there is something wrong with your 118i. I would ask to return the car asap.

KatieDee

tonygold wrote: »

that really doesn't sound right at all. before my 320 i owned a 118i manual and with mixed town and motorway driving was easily getting an average of 32+ mpg. on a purely motorway run it was over 40mpg.

i drive over 20,000 miles a year and this average only dipped slightly in the winter months (understandable). are you manually working out the mpg (by brim filling twice) or just relying on the trip computer, because they have been known to be wrong.

also to consider, are all your journeys short runs on a cold engine which will always show poor mpg?

Thanks for your reply.

I filled the tank up twice, resetting the trip computer each time so I could go on the mileage driven rather than the MPG showing on the dash. I know how they calculate, so I wanted to make sure it was the actual mileage rather than an issue with a sensor.

I drive 10-15 miles each way to work, sometimes urban and sometimes motorway. My first journey is always in the morning which means the engine will be cold.

I think if I was getting 30, I'd be over the moon! As I said, I'm not being unrealistic. Urban driving is a pain in bigger engines and will always result in bad fuel consumption for the reasons you gave. 20mpg is way less than I anticipated though!

pinkshoes wrote: »

What year is it?

It's a 59 plate

pinkshoes

A 59 plate should have the newer fuel efficient engine changes they made, so 20mpg implies there is something wrong with the car.

I would reject it.

KatieDee

pinkshoes wrote: »

A 59 plate should have the newer fuel efficient engine changes they made, so 20mpg implies there is something wrong with the car.

I would reject it.

Thank you for your reply.

When the garage owner didn't get back to me, I sent an email (very polite!) explaining that I would appreciate it if he contacted me before Monday, given the fact it is coming up to 30 days since I purchased the vehicle. I also explained if he couldn't fix the problem then I would be rejecting the vehicle.

Can I ask, what would be the best way to do this? Put it in writing and forewarn him that I am going to drop the car off and reject it? If he refuses the rejection, should I keep the car and look at going to court? I've read a lot of guides online regarding it so the information is there for me, I'm just looking for some personal experience or tips to ensure it goes well.

AdrianC

KatieDee wrote: »

It's a 59 plate

Eight years old, then.

How are you calculating the economy?

Brim the tank, zero the trip meter. Brim it. Divide distance travelled by fuel used? Ideally, over several tankfuls to reduce error according to varying click-off levels?

What conversion between litres and gallons? 4.5 or 3.8?
The car's on standard-size tyres, and the odometer is reading correctly?

Is there a smell of fuel, either near the car with the engine running, or sniffing the exhaust?
If you leave it idling on wet tarmac, then move it, there's no oily glisten on the ground?
Have the garage checked fault codes and emissions?

neilmcl

I'd suggest asking over on the baybmw.net forums. It does sound a little on the low side, however for an 8 year old E87 model it could well be about right with your sort of driving. It doesn't take a lot of short stop/start portions in your journey to make the average mpg tumble in a petrol.