BMW 1 Series - 120D v New 118i M Sport

[Notanotherturbo]

Just sharing some thoughts on anybody thinking about a 1 series purchase . My wife has an 07 plate 120D SE. I'm not overly keen on it as I think the early ones look a bit rubbish and basically it's quite cramped inside and the seats in SE don't suit me. It does however go extremely well for a 2.0 diesel and has averaged 47 MPG in her tenure despite her seemingly wearing very heavy shoes. I've had a 2018 118i M Sport for the last week as a hire car (Shadow edition apparently?) and it's been fascinating seeing the differences. Firstly the latest 1 series looks massively better to my eyes and in Anthracite metallic and dark tints and black wheels it looks better still. The interior is much nicer too but not leather. Seats are still fairly uncomfortable though - and not heated. The tech is good, although I rarely drive new cars for comparison. I have heard lots of slating of I Drive but have found it really easy to use and I'm a bit of a technophobe. Voice Nav seems to vary from virtually telepathic to the vocal equivalent of dyslexia which can be incredibly frustrating. The performance on the road is where the new car disappoints for me though. Yes it feels much more planted but it seems to want to understeer at quite moderate speeds on damp roads, and the ride is significantly worse even in comfort mode ( although significantly better then the early M sports we test drove before buying an SE). But the single biggest reason I would not recommend buying one is the engine. It's smooth if completely anodyne and lacking character but it's simply slow. The 120D would destroy it in a straight line , which I could live with if the economy was better . Over 2 full tank fulls (approx. 700 miles) the trip computer says 38 mpg. Lots of motorway driving (80 mph max) and haven't even given it a good thrashing. Have used eco-pro mode for a while , only detrimental thing was sitting in a couple of bad traffic jams. I know it will be a much cleaner engine but it hardly seems like 11 years of progress. The Peugeot 1.6 Turbo lump in the 308 GTi has twice the power and EVO get more than 38 out of that !

[Section 8]

I’m not too clued up about new generation 1 series save for the M140i. Don’t they do a 116d? It’s probably a 2.0 if confusing BMW badging is anything to go by.

I always thought the 123d was about as good as the 1 series oil burners got. The later 125d had lots of people reporting they never felt nearly as quick as it’s 215 bhp would suggest.

[HM-2]

I struggle to believe that economy figure given that I'm averaging 30mpg in an M140i, and 80% of my driving is urban.
I'll frequently get north of 45 on a long run...

[bitchstewie]

I'm getting 36mpg from an M140 so 38mpg from a 120D sounds as if something is broken surely?

[Notanotherturbo]

47 mpg from an 07 plate 120d SE driven quite hard. 38 mpg for an 118i M Sport (1.5 Auto) driven quite gently. It's only done 12k miles so I don't think there is anything wrong with it

[Notanotherturbo]

HM-2 said:

I struggle to believe that economy figure given that I'm averaging 30mpg in an M140i, and 80% of my driving is urban.
I'll frequently get north of 45 on a long run...

I'm not making it up for affect :0)! Economy for the 140i is impressive.

[Mr Tidy]

I bought a pre-registered 57 plate 123d in January 2008 and had it for over 6 years and 81K miles. I managed an average of 48.7 mpg in that time. And it was really quick for a 4 cylinder turbo-diesel.

But I stopped doing business miles which meant diesel was no longer essential, and then I started reading about N47 engine cam-chain woes and it had to go.

Your OH's 120d probably has the same engine so you may want to google "N47 cam-chain" before you decide!

The last time I had my 123d serviced I'd specifically asked for an F20 1 Series as a courtesy car and got a 118i Sport. To be honest I liked it, and while it wasn't as quick as my 123d it certainly didn't feel gutless. Maybe you need to try a 125i?

Although as I've become a convert to BMW straight 6s I'd go for a 135i - economy is only a number!

Good luck anyway.

[Notanotherturbo]

I'm not considering buying either (people really don't read things thoroughly ) Just thought my experience might be useful for anybody considering one. The wife's 1 Series will be going this year for something a bit bigger anyway and I wouldn't buy a diesel now unless it was super cheap as they are going to suffer massive depreciation.