Which 1 Series to buy? 116d, 118i, 120d?

[George3g]

Hi all,

My girlfriend is finally looking to sell her Vauxhall Insignia and jump into a 2015-2018 1 Series but neither of us are sure which engine to go for? There seem to be plenty of 116d's for sale but I've read that due to being a three cylinder the engine can feel quite rough and unrefined.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated

Thanks!

[scg1]

I've got a 2 series (218i) which has the exact same engine as the 118i - it's fairly powerful and beats most cars off the lights, especially in sport mode.

In terms of it being a 3-cylinder, I don't really notice anything abnormal with the engine, in fact it's extremely quiet since it's a petrol and I can hardly hear it revving unless I open the window.

One thing with my 218i is the fuel economy is shocking - around town I'm getting around 20mpg and on the motorway it's around 36mpg which obviously means trips are a little more expensive but I guess it's a BMW so what can you expect?

I regret not going for a diesel let's put it that way.

[rosejem]

I have a 118i with the B38 1.5 petrol auto & careful motorway driving will see low to mid 40 mpg , this engine suits the car really well in my opinion & seems to be proving a reliable engine ( It's been out since 2015 ) .

If most of your journeys are motorway or dual carriage way then I would go for the 118d ( 2.0 L ) had a 2012 one before & it would do about 10 more miles per gallon .

Overall I though I am pleased with my petrol 118i & would not go back to a diesel .

[Paule2359]

I have a 2015 120D which I'm more than happy with, the on board computer says I'm doing 46 mpg which is mainly shortish journey's with the odd long run.
For everyday journey's the performance is more than adequate, being a diesel the engine is not as refined as a petrol but it's not too bad at all, the only thing is that I did wonder if the diesel engine would have been better suited to a auto gearbox rather than a manual.

[Magnum 475]

Short journeys- 118i or 120i

Lots of longer journeys- 120d.

Don’t by a diesel for a daily 5 mile commute!

Oh, and scg1 - my 330i is turning in better economy than that - get it checked over by a decent BMW specialist!

[Touring442]

scg1 said:

beats most cars off the lights, especially in sport mode.



One thing with my 218i is the fuel economy is shocking - around town I'm getting around 20mpg

[4rephill]

scg1 said:

I've got a 2 series (218i) which has the exact same engine as the 118i - it's fairly powerful and beats most cars off the lights, especially in sport mode........

[Court_S]

Touring442 said:

scg1 said:

beats most cars off the lights, especially in sport mode.



One thing with my 218i is the fuel economy is shocking - around town I'm getting around 20mpg

I had that engine in a MINI, it was ok in a smaller car but certainly no dragster!

[4rephill]

Court_S said:

Touring442 said:

scg1 said:

beats most cars off the lights, especially in sport mode.



One thing with my 218i is the fuel economy is shocking - around town I'm getting around 20mpg

I had that engine in a MINI, it was ok in a smaller car but certainly no dragster!

TBF, he only claims to beat most cars off the lights - He doesn't claim to stay ahead of them.

When I was learning to drive back in 1986, I once beat a Lotus Turbo Esprit off the lights in: "TED'S DRIVING SCHOOL" 1.2L Vauxhall Nova (at the insistence of Ted himself!).

As the red/amber lights just extinguished, I launched the Nova with everything it had, and for two~three feet, we were blowing the Lotus into the weeds!

A split second later, the Esprit driver woke up, and the Lotus made the jump to hyper space, just as I was heading for 20 mph.

So it is possible that the 218i beats most cars off the lights (especially cars that aren't actually racing it), but it doesn't beat them for long!

[Sofa]

Magnum 475 said:

Oh, and scg1 - my 330i is turning in better economy than that - get it checked over by a decent BMW specialist!

I’ve got a 125i (3.0 N52) and while I’ve admittedly only had it about a week it returned 34mpg on the 180 mile drive home. And while that was mostly sitting quite sensibly at 75ish with my mate in his 1.0 Focus I did… see what it could do a few times.

That said I’ve had 1.5 MINI Coopers (7spd DCT but the same engine I think) as hire a fair few times and I’m not sure I’ve ever really cracked 40mpg in them- although I do tend to have a bit of a lead foot in them. So they do seem like thirsty little engines if you want to make progress.

[PTF]

Wishing i'd not bothered with the M2 and gone for a 218i instead now. It seems that's the sweet spot in the range

I filled it up yesterday and it took about £50 to brim it after 200 miles. About 27mpg after mixed driving with a little bit of messing about.

So maybe i'm winning on mpg at least