2007 118d sport ?? performance, fuel and baby's ??

2007 118d sport ?? performance, fuel and baby's ??

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paul n

Original Poster:

247 posts

168 months

Monday 23rd November 2015
quotequote all
Hi all

After a wee bit of advice,

I currently have a 2002 WRX wagon with a remap so about 265bhp as my wifes car/ general car. I have a boring passat diesel estate for work and also a westfield pure track car, no windscreen etc.

I love the Subaru but we have a baby on the way so looking to swap it out for a more fuel efficient car for the wife so looking at diesels but still want something fun to drive! The sensible thing would be to get a golf but I really don't like FWD (my passat is so boring!) so looking at BMW's. never had one before, I started looking at 2005 120d's looking at a remap to maybe 195 bhp but after more research i see that in 2007 they changed the engines so a 2007 118d with a remap could get me similar power (superchips) and good fuel efficiently and importantly £30 a year tax!

looking at trim options either sport or M sport i think as i like firm suspension and a descent seat!

I am going to compete in some hill climbs and sprints in the westfield next year so my thinking with this is also it gives me more experience in a RWD car (although i know it will be very different!) also thinking on the very odd occasion that i have booked a track day and it's pissing it down and i don't' want to drive the westy down the motorway i could take the BMW? (would it take a mild track day antics?)

so anyway

will i be disappointed after the scooby?
will the 1 series have enough space for a baby and all the kit?
any issues with high mileage 118d engines that i should look out for?

any advice much appreciated.

cheers Paul

PTF

4,252 posts

223 months

Monday 23rd November 2015
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I had a scoob wagon when my 1st kid came along. Due to practicality/MPG/wife-didn't-like-the scoob we traded it for a SEAT Leon TDI. That was a mistake. It was soul-less, not that great on fuel, awkward door shape for getting the little lad into the seat.

Then we had an M135i when my 2nd kid came along. That didn't work either. Rear facing baby seats take lots of room. With him in the back the leg room in the front was tiny. I couldn't drive with him behind me, and my mrs could barely fit in the passenger seat with him behind her.

And that model 1 series is probably a bit bigger than the one you're looking at.

We ended up spending £5k on a honda crv for exclusive use as a family bus. It's great. The kids make as much mess as they like. Loads of room. Ideal for pram/wellies/etc in the back for muddy winter walks.

The M135i has gone now, but it only recently became useful again as my 2nd kid is now able to sit in a front facing car seat.

My advice: Keep the scoob for a year until your kid is 1 yr old. Then go shopping. Once they're out of rear facing seats there are loads of cars that will suffice. You can even just about cope with 3 doors as you just plonk them in their seat with them facing you.

Edited by PTF on Monday 23 November 16:11

paul n

Original Poster:

247 posts

168 months

Monday 23rd November 2015
quotequote all
Cheers for the advice!

yes the space in the back is an issue!

just out of interest how talk are you ? i am pretty short at 5 ft 8 so may not be as much as an issue! I do have the big estate car for longer journeys so it would only be occasional use with 2 of us in it!


baby aside i would be interested in opinions on what they are like to drive (when the baby's not in the back! ) I know it won't be fast in a straight line (even with a remap) compared to the Subaru but what i like about how a car drives i steering feel and cornering stance?

more engaging than a FWD golf/focus i would hope? Any body had one on the track?

Cheers Paul

bennyboysvuk

3,491 posts

247 months

Monday 23rd November 2015
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paul n said:
Cheers for the advice!

yes the space in the back is an issue!

just out of interest how talk are you ? i am pretty short at 5 ft 8 so may not be as much as an issue! I do have the big estate car for longer journeys so it would only be occasional use with 2 of us in it!


baby aside i would be interested in opinions on what they are like to drive (when the baby's not in the back! ) I know it won't be fast in a straight line (even with a remap) compared to the Subaru but what i like about how a car drives i steering feel and cornering stance?

more engaging than a FWD golf/focus i would hope? Any body had one on the track?

Cheers Paul
I had my 2006 120d M Sport as a sensible family car, which I also used for commuting. It was a bit tight for family stuff, but far from impossible.

For the fun stuff, it's firm enough to be quite involving. Its lack of LSD is always irritating when coming out of T junctions in the wet. If you're a hooligan with it on roundabouts it can be entertaining. I'm surprised at how entertaining it felt compared to my current M135i...especially when the rear tyres needed replacing. wink

Mr Tidy

22,065 posts

126 months

Monday 23rd November 2015
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AFAIK the 118d and 120d always had the same engine but with different mapping, so although the 118d can be made quicker it's probably easier to start with a 120d!

Can't help with the child seats question, but my 1 Series seemed smaller in the back than the E46 320td Compact it replaced, although with back doors access was much better (although the rear doors are pretty small)!

One word of caution though, the diesel facelift models (around March 2007 onwards) have the N47 engine. Although each facelift model is more powerful than its predecessor, has lower CO2, etc. there are cam chain and tensioner issues which BMW may help with depending on history. Seeing as the chain is at the back of the engine any fix for this is expensive, and early engines sometimes neeed a new crankshaft as well! eek Google N47 engine issues for more info.

This is one of the reasons I sold my 123d last year at 81,000 miles. Yes it was very quick for a 2 litre turbo-diesel, economical too, and in SE Dynamic spec it had the M-Sport suspension and seats but no rubber band tyres and they managed to paint all of the rear bumper (!) so a bit stealthy in boring Silver!

Have since bought a Z4 Coupe with the N52 3 litre engine - should have test driven a 130i (same engine) because if I had that is what I would have bought (and it has 265 bhp)! Even a quickish diesel will still drive like a diesel.

It only had regular main agent servicing plus consumable items like tyres, but did need a battery and a starter motor which I think may have been due to the stop/start malarkey - it was even on the original brakes and wiper blades! (I got it as a pre-reg with under 20 recorded miles).


paul n

Original Poster:

247 posts

168 months

Monday 23rd November 2015
quotequote all
hmmm lots to research!

I started by going down the 120d route with pre 2007 cars but was then go sucked in my the claimed 10mpg higher, more power and lower tax of the 2007 on wards cars! would be interested to see if it is really 10mpg difference!

lack of a LSD could be an issue!

love the look of the 130i but out of budget and i would be in the same boat with fuel consumption as the subaru! ........LPG converson??...........i really do prefer petrol!

many thansk for replys

Cheers PAul

Mr Tidy

22,065 posts

126 months

Monday 23rd November 2015
quotequote all
It's always a compromise!

TBH my experience is the facelift will struggle to give you any more mpg! Manufacturers just got better at building cars to suit the test - ask VAG!rofl

I had a 320td with the previous generation diesel for 3 years and it averaged about 47 mpg over 42,000 miles.

Based on EU testing the 123d that replaced it SHOULD have been 7/8 mpg better, but over 81,000 miles mine averaged about 48 mpg, so nothing in it. And those figures were from a (sad) Excel spreadsheet not the OBC, although the mileage was from the speedo.!

Don't know what you get from your Scooby but my Z4C is averaging the right side of 30 mpg so a 130i should be similar, so long as it isn't all short trips stopping and starting before it warms up. Mind you on those sort of trips you'd be lucky to get near 40 mpg from a diesel anyway.

Final thought is depending on how the car is used you may or may not want to avoid the facelift as it had a dpf, whereas I don't think the pre-facelift had one - my E46 certainly didn't.

Good luck anyway!

P.S. If you get fed up with all this just buy a V8 X5 and do some global warming - it's been freezing here today so any help would be appreciated!laugh

paul n

Original Poster:

247 posts

168 months

Monday 23rd November 2015
quotequote all
Yes makes sense about "test" mpg! I never get any where near the claimed figures on my 2013 VW passt (yes it does have to be recalled! thank god it's a work car!)

ok so might look at 2005 models as well and maybe go back to looking at 120d. The £150 a year saving does appeal though! I know it is not alot but add up if i have the car for 5 years!

you've got me looking at 130i's now! ha ha ! 30mpg average is pretty good! the Subaru is maybe 25 with the wife driving , 18 with me in it!

the Z4 3.0 does look a bargain! (second hand prices as very good) how are you enjoying it! Every time i get caught in a rainstorm in westy i end up looking longingly at people with roofs and windscreens!

but on track in the dry it is all forgotten! smile

Cheers Paul

Mr Tidy

22,065 posts

126 months

Tuesday 24th November 2015
quotequote all
Sorry if I derailed your thoughts!

When I bought the Z4C I got a cheapy 2 owner 1996 Mazda 323f with just over 60,000 miles - 1500cc so cheap RFL, non-interference engine so run it until the cam-belt breaks (if it does) then just replace the belt, and 40mpg - surely a result!?

Not really, it lasted 3 or 4 months - it was so boring to drive I hardly used it so the miles started going on the Z4! There is quite a hill on the way to work - in the Mazda I would exit the roundabout at the bottom and get in the outside lane, then even foot to the floor it seemed to go backwards!

12 months ago I solved that by selling it! Got a 325ti Sport instead - man maths at it's best! 2 x Band K RFL in a 1 person household (probably wouldn't be allowed in a 2 person one anywaylaugh).

Sometimes life is just too short! Mind you a 130i may have covered both bases?confused

Oh and I have read good things on here about a Quaife LSD from Birds, but that is probably just the starting point on the road to ruin!

It may be a factor, but how often/far would you plan to drive it, as opposed to the OH?

paul n

Original Poster:

247 posts

168 months

Tuesday 24th November 2015
quotequote all
yeah i started looking into the whole 120d remapped with the LSD diff and the 123d caliper carrier upgrade for occasional track work but then i realized i already have 1 track car! I can't be going down that road! although doing a track day with 25mpg does appeal!

realistically my whole whole is going to change anyway when the baby comes! just fighting it right now! ha ha!

i need to go and rive one i think, i drove a audi A3 2.0 tsfi S line quattro the other day, way nicer than i thought it would be but ultimately hardly any better MPG than the subaru and not as fast so i might as well stick with the Subaru! hence looking at "performance diesels"

thanks again for the advice people smile

Paul


bennyboysvuk

3,491 posts

247 months

Tuesday 24th November 2015
quotequote all
Just a final thought now that the 130i has been mentioned. If I'd have bought a nice 130i instead of the 120d way back in 2012, I'd probably still own it now. There wasn't a single time where a 130i and I were in traffic at the same time and I didn't wish I'd gone for the 130i instead.

Re fuel consumption, I thrashed my 120d (no DPF, no swirl flaps) and it returned 37 mpg at absolute worst. I suspect that the 130i would be doing mid 20s fuel consumption when driven fairly hard each day and might get low 30s on a cruise. It is absolutely worth it though for the gorgeous straight six.

rb5er

11,657 posts

171 months

Tuesday 24th November 2015
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paul n said:
will i be disappointed after the scooby?
will the 1 series have enough space for a baby and all the gubbins
Yes and yes.

Drive a 1series. Horrible imo.

gizlaroc

17,251 posts

223 months

Tuesday 24th November 2015
quotequote all
I had a 55 plate 120d M-Sport, I bought it to go with my M3 CSL at the time and save some money on the 535d Touring, but fell for it big time and kept it over 2 years, which was a record for me.
When the M3 went I got a 335i and on a 4000 mile trip to the Italian Lakes and South Of France I took the mapped 120d over the 335i, it was that good.
In the end we took a yer to find a replacement, and that was....123d.

The 123d was a facelift, in all honesty I preferred the 120d. Far better geared, and both mine were autos.

There is a fair difference economy between the pre and post facelift cars, and the facelift 120d will see around 20% better mpg than the 123d.

My 55 plate 120d struggled on mpg though, around 34mpg over 2.5 years and 60k miles. There was lots of discussion about it on the babybmw forums at the time.

The other thing to consider is gearbox, the manuals from mid 2005 through to mid 2011 are not great, you can get a very slight judder as you pull away, this in itself is not an issue, but it makes the clutch hard work, BMW were swapping them out for a revised clutch and flywheel that was better balanced, they did it in our manual X1, the difference is staggering and shows what it is meant to be like. But it ruined that X1 for us and we had already agreed a trade in by the time BMW called to say they would fit the new clutch, if it had been done earlier I would still have that car now I bet.

I really liked the 1 Series, we spent 5 years in them in total, we are now in a 2013 X3, but just recently looked at 130i's again as a second car that could get the dog etc. in.
Not many around though. I bought an Audi, FWD, big mistake, lasted a few weeks, almost dangerous in the wet imho.
Ended up looking at C350 coupes and C320 estates, bought the estate as the price was right and thought a 320cdi Estate over the 350 petrol was the sensible thing to do. Have to say I am thrilled with it, a very, very solid car even though as a 2006 it is nearly 10 years old.

But a big thumbs up for the 1 series from me.

Spuffington

1,203 posts

167 months

Tuesday 24th November 2015
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Just my two-penneth...

I've gone from E60 550i to E70 x40d when my daughter was born - 550i was fine and would've been perfect had it not have leaked like a sieve. But the X5 was better in terms of not needing to bend over to plonk baby in.

We changed to an F20 118d earlier this year when my daughter was c. 26months old. Not sure I'd have done it or could've coped with it previous to that, but it works really well for us now. 90% of the time it's just Mrs Spuff and Spuff Jnr out in it and with it being a 5-door, easy enough to get her in the back, even in her PheonixPro2 seat. And big enough for the three of us to do a 2.5k round trip to the S of France over the Summer with all our gear in the car.

BUT - this is because she doesn't Need all the baby stuff she needed a year or so earlier when a saloon / 4x4 was very handy. I'm not saying it can't be done, but it'd have been a pain. I have a mate with a 118i who drives between Frankfurt and Essex several times a year with a 6 month old - but he needs a roofbox, which is a faff.

However, our 118d as a family wagon? It works, better than expected. I have a love-hate relationship with it - it's absolutely great at what it does. We get nearly 50mpg average from even a skewed urban-ish environment, costs me peanuts therefore to run. It's big enough for 99% of our requirements on a day to day basis. It can be mild fun on the right road (with no passengers on board). But is it my dream car? Absolutely not. Will I change it the Moment I can afford to run something more luxurious, faster, bigger, thirstier? Absolutely.

The biggest problem is - once you're converted to cheap, practical motoring and you realise that it's just a car and method of Transport - everything else Looks like a complete waste of money. To that extent, I'm so glad I've already run my expensive SUV's and V8 because I'd struggle to justify them in the future, even if I had the money to run them.

paul n

Original Poster:

247 posts

168 months

Tuesday 24th November 2015
quotequote all
had a quick poke around a 11d se today! like the driving postion, steering feels nice, didn't like the seats, boot was bigger than i expected!

Didn't like the seats..........think i will need a sport model......

Looking at budgets i will be on the high mileage end of the spectrum! no major issues with these are there as long as they have been cared for?

thanks again for advice! invalauble! smile

gizlaroc

17,251 posts

223 months

Tuesday 24th November 2015
quotequote all
SE seats are crap. The Sport seats are the best I have had, only issue with them is the base bolster can be a little close for the 'larger' people out there.

Gruber

6,313 posts

213 months

Tuesday 24th November 2015
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I genuinely don't think we'd have managed with something as small as a 1er with our newborn last year. As one of the earlier posters said, it's not so bad when they get older and need less stuff.

But more to the point, backward facing baby seats take up seemingly acres of space, and I just can't see how you'd get one in the back of a 1er and have any legroom for a passenger up front. Indeed, we tried it with my 1M and it just didn't work. Once he was old enough for the forward facing seat, the 1er became absolutely fine.

bennyboysvuk

3,491 posts

247 months

Wednesday 25th November 2015
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Gruber said:
I genuinely don't think we'd have managed with something as small as a 1er with our newborn last year. As one of the earlier posters said, it's not so bad when they get older and need less stuff.

But more to the point, backward facing baby seats take up seemingly acres of space, and I just can't see how you'd get one in the back of a 1er and have any legroom for a passenger up front. Indeed, we tried it with my 1M and it just didn't work. Once he was old enough for the forward facing seat, the 1er became absolutely fine.
When we had the rear facing baby seat in our 120d, it was always on the passenger side. This meant the passenger seat had to be quite far forwards and high up in order to fit me in. I'm 6ft3 and was never comfortable in the passenger seat really, so if my wife was driving I'd choose to sit in the back next to my son. My wife is 5ft7 so legroom behind her was ample.

We made the swap to an E91 330i M-Sport auto and although space was ok, dynamically it was a long way off the 120d.

I change my mind daily about cars, but if my family grows further, it's got to be an E90 M3. smile

paul n

Original Poster:

247 posts

168 months

Wednesday 25th November 2015
quotequote all
Yeah I was thinking one in the drivers seat, one in the back with the baby ! Also this would be only very occasionally as have the big work car which would be used most of the time.

When you talk about the dynamics of the two cars (120d vs 330) what were the differences?

Practalities aside would be interested if anybody had experience of a 120d vs a Subaru in terms of driving fun/ dynamics ?

I love my Subaru but more for the straight line acceleration and noise ! To be honest the handeling is ok but not great. The steering is too light and it's not the most precise thing in the world !

I would Happily give us some straight line performance for nice steering feel and cornering balance !

Or will it feel just like other modern cars, I.e driving a computer game !

Cheers paul



rb5er

11,657 posts

171 months

Thursday 26th November 2015
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They are slow, don't expect it to be any kind of fun, its a white goods car.