e92 320d feels underpowered - smoked by a Giulietta

[CitizenKane]

Hi all,

So I was driving along merrily the other day in my 2013 e92 320d (184bhp) M Sport and some guy in a 2011 Alfa Romeo Giulietta pulled up beside me at the lights. He rolled down the window and said "what's the retail on one of those?", to which I replied "more than you can afford pal, BMW" and revved my 4 cylinder diesel all the way to 3,500 rpm. When the lights hit green we put the foot down and after a bit of neck and neck he proceeded to pass me pretty easily.

Ok maybe it didn't quite happen like that...but the point is I was toasted by that car the other day and it surprised me a little. I've had my e92 for about 5 months now. I've always had a sense that it felt a bit underpowered and sluggish but I thought it might have been just my imagination, or perhaps it was just the fact that I wasn't used to the automatic gear box. However this encounter with the Giulietta confirmed it for me. Now I know some models of the Giulietta are supposed to be quite pokey, but I never thought one would be that much faster than my car. I didn't notice any green clovers on this particular one either.

Has anyone else experienced this with their 320d? Is it maybe the case that the car just needs a good service? Or is it maybe the case that the way the car supposedly "remembers" your driving style has something to do with it, as I tend to take it pretty handy on my daily commute? Or is the car just not that fast? I wasn't expecting the performance of a 335d but I'm still now slightly disappointed with this, 184bhp seems like it should deliver more.

Edited by CitizenKane on Monday 26th December 12:14

[Marvtec]

It really does depend which model it was. The 2.0 diesel once mapped would be around 200bhp and no doubt lighter than the beemer. If it was the 1.6 diesel I'd say your car's broken!

Its very easy to get used to a cars power and start thinking its got slower.

[Smuler]

CitizenKane said:

Hi all,

So I was driving along merrily the other day in my 2013 e92 320d (184bhp) M Sport and some guy in a 2011 Alfa Romeo Giulietta pulled up beside me at the lights. He rolled down the window and said "what's the retail on one of those?", to which I replied "more than you can afford pal, BMW" and revved my 4 cylinder diesel all the way to 3,500 rpm. When the lights hit green we put the foot down and after a bit of neck and neck he proceeded to pass me pretty easily.

Ok maybe it didn't quite happen like that...but the point is I was toasted by that car the other day and it surprised me a little. I've had my e92 for about 5 months now. I've always had a sense that it felt a bit underpowered and sluggish but I thought it might have been just my imagination, or perhaps it was just the fact that I wasn't used to the automatic gear box. However this encounter with the Giulietta confirmed it for me. Now I know some models of the Giulietta are supposed to be quite pokey, but I never thought one would be that much faster than my car. I didn't notice any green clovers on this particular one either.

Has anyone else experienced this with their 320d? Is it maybe the case that the car just needs a good service? Or is it maybe the case that the way the car supposedly "remembers" your driving style has something to do with it, as I tend to take it pretty handy on my daily commute? Or is the car just not that fast? I wasn't expecting the performance of a 335d but I'm still now slightly disappointed with this, 184bhp seems like it should deliver more.

Edited by CitizenKane on Monday 26th December 12:14

I don't know squat about the Alpha, but would expect decent performance from the 320d

Two of my own scenarios come to mind; 1) in my old 2L diesel Mondeo I was overtaken too easily by a Mini Cooper (about same 0-60) and low and behold car didn't feel right and did afterwards trip a fault. so there could be a problem

But more likely :-

2) After a similar period of ownership in my 335i, something felt a little off and so I reset the throttle adaptions. There was a long thread on E90 post about it and whilst some deemed it a placebo it cured the issue for me


Not sure if this was the thread, but if not it's similar

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=544...

[Ahbefive]

He probably just had a faster car than you.

[apotts]

Power to weight (bhp/tonne):

E92 320d: 121
1.4TB (170): 123
1.75TB: 166
2.0JTDM: 120

Source: http://www.italiaspeed.com/2010/cars/alfa_romeo/04...

The 320d is a lard bucket, as has been demonstrated to you.

Edit: maths issues!

Edited by apotts on Monday 26th December 15:19

Edited by apotts on Monday 26th December 15:20

[PixelpeepS3]

Pistonheads in another "owner of underpowered and overweight entry level saloon surprised when outgunned on the open road" shocker!

Not sure if serious - did you really expect your rep-mobile to be the victor?

[MiggyA]

I'd be interested to know how you end up getting 'toasted' by another fairly mundane car, were you actually trying to race? (Also the other guy who was overtaken 'too easily' by a MINI - were you trying to obstruct then? Don't see what your car's performance has to do with it otherwise) TBH the only time I feel seriously toasted vs other cars is when I'm driving something less than 100hp/ton

[CitizenKane]

MiggyA said:

I'd be interested to know how you end up getting 'toasted' by another fairly mundane car, were you actually trying to race?

Did you not read the story? "What's the retail on one of those?"

In fairness I actually wasn't trying to race him, in this case the guy in the Alfa was tailgating me so when we got onto a straight I floored it to try to pull away from him, and he did the same and shot past me.

[CitizenKane]

PixelpeepS3 said:

Pistonheads in another "owner of underpowered and overweight entry level saloon surprised when outgunned on the open road" shocker!

Not sure if serious - did you really expect your rep-mobile to be the victor?

My car isn't a saloon? What's a "rep-mobile"?

[CitizenKane]

Thanks for the interesting replies. The power to weight ratio is a good point and I would say this is probably a case of the car being heavier than I had expected rather than less powerful.

Still feels underpowered though so it only really leaves me with two options - upgrade to something more powerful or try a remap.

[Marvtec]

CitizenKane said:

Thanks for the interesting replies. The power to weight ratio is a good point and I would say this is probably a case of the car being heavier than I had expected rather than less powerful.

Still feels underpowered though so it only really leaves me with two options - upgrade to something more powerful or try a remap.

Why not do both and join the PH hall of fame?

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[Ahbefive]

A remap would likely just make you as quick as said Giulietta which really is not that quick at all. I'd suggest a faster car as that is always the best solution.

[Iva Barchetta]

Where's that idiot who posted about his 320D being faster than a 330 ?

Was he banned for being a complete arse ?

"I know what fast is as I have a 700 BHP Vette as well "....was one of his lines.

[CitizenKane]

Ahbefive said:

A remap would likely just make you as quick as said Giulietta which really is not that quick at all. I'd suggest a faster car as that is always the best solution.

True but there are other considerations as well, such as fuel economy and cost. I live in Ireland so the unfortunate fact of the matter is that cars are just more expensive here and if import from the UK we get shafted by something called VRT. We also have a dysfunctional insurance market and the premiums I was quoted for anything above a 320d were obscene. Without wanting to labour the point, cost is a big factor!

[CitizenKane]

Marvtec said:

Why not do both and join the PH hall of fame?

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Lol, good thread.

[Smuler]

MiggyA said:

I'd be interested to know how you end up getting 'toasted' by another fairly mundane car, were you actually trying to race? (Also the other guy who was overtaken 'too easily' by a MINI - were you trying to obstruct then? Don't see what your car's performance has to do with it otherwise) TBH the only time I feel seriously toasted vs other cars is when I'm driving something less than 100hp/ton

Turned left onto a B road and accelerated as normal and yet felt like my car was being "held back" and taking longer to reach the speed limit of 60. Thereform the similarly able mini following same route was able to pass easily on the straight. I don't think it went into limp mode, which is why I used this example for the OP who seem surprised in his incident , but when at Ford they read an actuator fault code. They said when one of these fails it's normally permanent but occasionally an intermittent fault can occur due to high temperatures (it was a sweltering July day) or "bad fuel".

[Ahbefive]

Iva Barchetta said:

Where's that idiot who posted about his 320D being faster than a 330 ?

Was he banned for being a complete arse ?

"I know what fast is as I have a 700 BHP Vette as well "....was one of his lines.

Ah yes that was something.

OP, have you tried short shifting? Apparently it's faster than anything if you can master the technique.

[helix402]

As above, you need to short shift the 320d then you can beat anyone. I reckon Alfa man said this to the op:



"You almost had me? You never had me. You never even had your car. Granny shifting not double clutching like you should.”

Oh, it was an auto 320.......

[CitizenKane]

helix402 said:

As above, you need to short shift the 320d then you can beat anyone. I reckon Alfa man said this to the op:



"You almost had me? You never had me. You never even had your car. Granny shifting not double clutching like you should.”

Oh, it was an auto 320.......

[PixelpeepS3]

CitizenKane said:

PixelpeepS3 said:

Pistonheads in another "owner of underpowered and overweight entry level saloon surprised when outgunned on the open road" shocker!

Not sure if serious - did you really expect your rep-mobile to be the victor?

My car isn't a saloon?

My sincere apologies, i have amended my statement.

Pistonheads in another "owner of underpowered and overweight entry level coupe surprised when outgunned on the open road" shocker!

CitizenKane said:

What's a "rep-mobile"?

Repmobile
The Repmobile is a semi-derogatory British term used to describe cars that are popular on the fleets of sales representatives (or reps).
Most commonly this term is applied to medium sized cars produced by large manufacturers and sold cheap to fleets.