118d 3 door hatchback advice and opinions please
Discussion
I have a 118d M sport 57 plate registered feb '08. It has the 144 bhp engine, i think all 3 doors have? although early 118d 3 doors may have the 123 bhp with higher c02.
I've covered 40k miles and prefer it to my colleagues golf tdi, its quick enough but i do wish i'd got the 120d.
The ride is on the hard side of firm especially with runflats, i've prevously had cars with race suspension so it doesn't bother me but the golf does ride noticably better. i'm not allowed to change to normal tyres though.
I don't have any issues with the trim, m-sport is nice with half leather seats and a chunky stearing wheel. If your reasonably tall it will reduce rear passenger space but kids will be ok. The book is quite large and the seats fold nearly flat ( great for Le mans)
I get 44mpg around town and got 58mpg on a run from Kent to Newcastle. Its only had routine servicing but i have gone through two sets of tyres.
in summary its good but if you can get a 120d - extra 30 brake and only slightly higher tax.
HTH
I've covered 40k miles and prefer it to my colleagues golf tdi, its quick enough but i do wish i'd got the 120d.
The ride is on the hard side of firm especially with runflats, i've prevously had cars with race suspension so it doesn't bother me but the golf does ride noticably better. i'm not allowed to change to normal tyres though.
I don't have any issues with the trim, m-sport is nice with half leather seats and a chunky stearing wheel. If your reasonably tall it will reduce rear passenger space but kids will be ok. The book is quite large and the seats fold nearly flat ( great for Le mans)
I get 44mpg around town and got 58mpg on a run from Kent to Newcastle. Its only had routine servicing but i have gone through two sets of tyres.
in summary its good but if you can get a 120d - extra 30 brake and only slightly higher tax.
HTH
Up to a few months ago I had a 120D auto, that was quick and a nice car to drive. During the part exchange I used a 118D manual for about a week, not so keen. Engine and g/box did not seem well matched, gears 5 & 6 were redundant unless you were on a motorway. Mind you, in general, I don't think diesel engines and manual g/boxes make a good combination (but that's another topic....). Powerwise difference was not too noticeable, probably because I was comparing an auto with a manual. No problem with the steering being too quick (one of my other cars is a Caterham though...), thought it was pretty good for an electric.
I have an 08 (June 2008) 118d m-sport 3dr manual, so far all is going well with the exception of not having the car for 6 months while waiting for the modified clutch to sort the clutch judder issue, no big deal as I had some tidy 120d coupe's and convert's to rack up the mileage on.
Car has covered some 38k miles and only recently had rear tyres replaced, fronts are still the original's. I felt power was a little lacking but a chip sorted that out, power and torque is now about the same as the 120d but the economy is not effected (unless you give it the beans) and tax remains cheap.
For me it's great, rarely carry more than one passenger so no rear space issues, boot is ample, I enjoy the 'harder' ride from the m-sport. The cabin is a nice place to be for long drives, my daily commute is 110 miles, only thing I should have included is cruise control, does get a little boring trying to keep a steady speed.
Economy is around 53 mpg over the past 6/8 months or so.
Car has covered some 38k miles and only recently had rear tyres replaced, fronts are still the original's. I felt power was a little lacking but a chip sorted that out, power and torque is now about the same as the 120d but the economy is not effected (unless you give it the beans) and tax remains cheap.
For me it's great, rarely carry more than one passenger so no rear space issues, boot is ample, I enjoy the 'harder' ride from the m-sport. The cabin is a nice place to be for long drives, my daily commute is 110 miles, only thing I should have included is cruise control, does get a little boring trying to keep a steady speed.
Economy is around 53 mpg over the past 6/8 months or so.
rich_vw said:
I have an 08 (June 2008) 118d m-sport 3dr manual, so far all is going well with the exception of not having the car for 6 months while waiting for the modified clutch to sort the clutch judder issue, no big deal as I had some tidy 120d coupe's and convert's to rack up the mileage on.
I think talk of a modified clutch is a bit of a myth that some BMW dealers spin, because BMW are still having issues with the clutch judder even after replacement. I had my 123d clutch changed for judder about 9 months ago with what was supposedly an updated clutch / flywheel and although it initially fixed the issue, the judder came back after a few months albeit not as bad and occurs in slightly different situations. The latest "fix" BMW have come up with is to program the ECU to pick the revs up as you pull away in an attempt to hide the judder, so mine won't be going in again until it's almost out of warranty by which time hopefully they'll have come up with a proper fix.Edited by LocoBlade on Wednesday 31st March 15:58
Thanks to all of you for your help on this. I have not heard about this clutch judder thing. Any more information about it would be much appreciated. Other than this all i am hearing is good about this car in contrast to what was my original choice, vw gt tdi, which seems to have several issues, that end in big bills.
Have a flick through this thread http://www.babybmw.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&...
BMW seem to have an issue with the dual mass flywheel and clutch assembly, so that under certain circumstances the clutch judders. Its supposedly caused by resonant frequencies in the engine but I can't see it myself. Mine doesnt judder very often, perhaps a couple of times per week really noticably, in my case usually when the engine is warm but I've been stopped for a short time (eg pulling out of the petrol station), although with the original clutch it only usually did it when cold. Its most noticable obviously if you need to slip the clutch significantly if perhaps pulling out of an uphill junction. For me its not a big issue as it is, but I can understand why it would annoy some especially if it did it more often than mine.
BMW seem to have an issue with the dual mass flywheel and clutch assembly, so that under certain circumstances the clutch judders. Its supposedly caused by resonant frequencies in the engine but I can't see it myself. Mine doesnt judder very often, perhaps a couple of times per week really noticably, in my case usually when the engine is warm but I've been stopped for a short time (eg pulling out of the petrol station), although with the original clutch it only usually did it when cold. Its most noticable obviously if you need to slip the clutch significantly if perhaps pulling out of an uphill junction. For me its not a big issue as it is, but I can understand why it would annoy some especially if it did it more often than mine.
I was lucky enough to have one with a bad case which started at around 3k miles, they finally took here is at around 9k miles, car has since covered near 30k more miles and only the very slightest of flutters once in a blue moon, what ever they've done it worked IMO.
Must admit both the long term courtesy car's also showed signs, but not as bad, 120d coupe '58 plate' had delivery miles and around 3k was similar to mines at around the same mileage, that was returned at around 5k, the second and '08' 120d convertable started with about 8k miles and at about 10k showed signs also but very minor, that was returned at around 18k miles and had not changed.
Think that severity has something to do with driving style as well as luck, family member tried mine and didn't notice the clutch but a week later they were wondering what the hell I was doing while trying to park, seemed like I couldn't drive.
Must admit both the long term courtesy car's also showed signs, but not as bad, 120d coupe '58 plate' had delivery miles and around 3k was similar to mines at around the same mileage, that was returned at around 5k, the second and '08' 120d convertable started with about 8k miles and at about 10k showed signs also but very minor, that was returned at around 18k miles and had not changed.
Think that severity has something to do with driving style as well as luck, family member tried mine and didn't notice the clutch but a week later they were wondering what the hell I was doing while trying to park, seemed like I couldn't drive.
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