Police BMW engine issues

[surveyor_101]

nordboy said:

We have the 280 sportline for adv stuff and 1.5tsi (150) for standard stuff.

The 280 really isn't underpowered, it's at least as quick as the 330d's, i know the spec sheets show it as being 0.3 sec slower to 60, but real world? No difference. In fact the 245 Octavia's really hold their own in the real world. The Superb is a nice car to drive.

280 superb is what I am on the lookout for as might bin vrs245 as it's been unlucky so far.

The 150 tsi dsg is surprising spritley as we had one

[nordboy]

surveyor_101 said:

280 superb is what I am on the lookout for as might bin vrs245 as it's been unlucky so far.

The 150 tsi dsg is surprising spritley as we had one

We're finding them so good, both the 280 and 150, that we've just ordered two more 150's and another 280 for this year, all estates. 280 is replacing a 530d and the 150's replacing two mondeo estates.

That will make two 280's, four 150's and three Vrs's, one of them is still going strong at 110k miles, we've had very little problems with them.

[lyonspride]

Most new BMW buyers only keep them for the initial 2-3 years and are unlikely to cover the sort of mileage required for such a failure to occur, beyond that it's dealerships making a killing when they come in for repair.

[Earthdweller]

Hugo Stiglitz said:

Any day I'd have a i30 over the Peugeot or 1 series at speed.

The i30 drives fantastically well above legal speeds. Stable, firm, predictable.

The Peugeot has a perkier engine and is faster in a straight line.

I don't get the desire for the 1 series. Its not a 130 etc. Its a low spec, low powered PSA engine.

Our i30’s were/are 1.4 diesels and they wouldn’t pull the skin off a rice pudding

The brakes on the initial ones were made of chocolate and had to be upgraded with bigger wheels having to be fitted to allow upgraded callipers

The main problem with them is parts availability and very poor dealer/manufacturer support which was probably why the they lost the contract when it came up for renewal

The i30 was indeed better than the i20’s we also had as they had a 3 cylinder 1.1 Diesel engine .. but that’s not saying much

I’d agree they were pretty comfortable and spacious but that’s about it

Standard drivers are restricted to 20mph above the posted speed limit and cannot exceed 70mph

The 308 petrols that are replacing them are much more perky around town and top speed is irrelevant tbf

The BMW 1 series offered were 118d with the 2.0 150bhp engine which our fleet dept considered too powerful for response drivers !

[Register1]

Tom1312 said:

An XC90 T8 ARV costs far more than a 30d X5 Authority.

Mixed fleets are coming but it won't make life easier.

Annoyingly the X5 is the ideal car for the job, next best thing would maybe be something like a Q7.

The XC90 is just too cramped and the city driving safety stuff makes them an absolute nightmare on a blue light run or when trying to perform tactics.

And the Touareg is a Q7 with a cheaper badge.
Or perhaps a Cayenne with a more expensive badge

[Hugo Stiglitz]

Earthdweller said:

Hugo Stiglitz said:

Any day I'd have a i30 over the Peugeot or 1 series at speed.

The i30 drives fantastically well above legal speeds. Stable, firm, predictable.

The Peugeot has a perkier engine and is faster in a straight line.

I don't get the desire for the 1 series. Its not a 130 etc. Its a low spec, low powered PSA engine.

Our i30’s were/are 1.4 diesels and they wouldn’t pull the skin off a rice pudding

The brakes on the initial ones were made of chocolate and had to be upgraded with bigger wheels having to be fitted to allow upgraded callipers

The main problem with them is parts availability and very poor dealer/manufacturer support which was probably why the they lost the contract when it came up for renewal

The i30 was indeed better than the i20’s we also had as they had a 3 cylinder 1.1 Diesel engine .. but that’s not saying much

I’d agree they were pretty comfortable and spacious but that’s about it

Standard drivers are restricted to 20mph above the posted speed limit and cannot exceed 70mph

The 308 petrols that are replacing them are much more perky around town and top speed is irrelevant tbf

The BMW 1 series offered were 118d with the 2.0 150bhp engine which our fleet dept considered too powerful for response drivers !

+20mph is policy not law and can be breached for any number of reasons.

[surveyor_101]

nordboy said:

We're finding them so good, both the 280 and 150, that we've just ordered two more 150's and another 280 for this year, all estates. 280 is replacing a 530d and the 150's replacing two mondeo estates.

That will make two 280's, four 150's and three Vrs's, one of them is still going strong at 110k miles, we've had very little problems with them.

Vrs 245 seems a good bit of kit another than a noise in the dash mines been superb runner with the dsg.

[ED209]

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-ne...

I didn’t even know about this until I read the newspaper article

[carreauchompeur]

Quite an extreme response from that force!

[Ted H]

ED209 said:

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-ne...

I didn’t even know about this until I read the newspaper article

Maybe someone in the know can tell me what is stopping the force’s procurement team going down to Stratstone and buying whatever XC90 or X5 nearly new cars are in stock, and spending the next couple of weeks getting them kitted out for emergency use?

I’m sure this goes against standard procurement policy, but every policy has a workaround in exceptional circumstances. Surely this approach is less of an impact or risk than specialist teams rolling around in Vauxhall vans and Peugeot’s.

[pavarotti1980]

carreauchompeur said:

Quite an extreme response from that force!

Reading the comments (and some seem to be from people "in the know"), it appears that they have not followed the schedule from BMW therefore it will likely invalidate any warranty.

[edthefed]

Its not as simple as going to the local dealership and buying second hand

BMWs come in factory "authority spec" which includes additional and upgraded wiring looms for all the on board equipment up rated suspension etc

Presumably Volvo does the same

[carreauchompeur]

pavarotti1980 said:

carreauchompeur said:

Quite an extreme response from that force!

Reading the comments (and some seem to be from people "in the know"), it appears that they have not followed the schedule from BMW therefore it will likely invalidate any warranty.

Yep, that does seem to be a contributory factor. Interesting to see whether a fix is found or whether the N57 engine is just considered fundamentally flawed.

[pavarotti1980]

carreauchompeur said:

Yep, that does seem to be a contributory factor. Interesting to see whether a fix is found or whether the N57 engine is just considered fundamentally flawed.

It would be strange for them not to come to some sort of solution. But also sticking all your eggs in one basket with 330/X5 as your RPU/ARV fleet is a flawed idea when something like this happens (as is blindly ignoring the manufacturers advice too)

[carreauchompeur]

Very true. But then our forthcoming orders are all Volvo, so hopefully a genuinely mixed fleet does result. The Volvos seem to be pretty bad for parts availability already though which is a concern…

[pavarotti1980]

carreauchompeur said:

Very true. But then our forthcoming orders are all Volvo, so hopefully a genuinely mixed fleet does result. The Volvos seem to be pretty bad for parts availability already though which is a concern…

And apparently the inability to have some of the safety features disabled....

[jonwm]

pavarotti1980 said:

carreauchompeur said:

Very true. But then our forthcoming orders are all Volvo, so hopefully a genuinely mixed fleet does result. The Volvos seem to be pretty bad for parts availability already though which is a concern…

And apparently the inability to have some of the safety features disabled....

I saw a video a good 12 18 months ago of a royal escort and the XC90 kept braking when it was in convoy, the officer seemed puzzled as to what was going on to be fair, I presumed he hadn't turned it off but maybe it just couldn't be.

[Hugo Stiglitz]

My old V70 did that. It's the one thing I absolutely hate on any modern car.

[ED209]

The Peugeot’s they are using due to the BMWs being off the road also have stupid assistance tech. At least the lane assist can be switched off but you have to do it every time you start the engine which is a pain.

[Don Roque]

ED209 said:

The Peugeot’s they are using due to the BMWs being off the road also have stupid assistance tech. At least the lane assist can be switched off but you have to do it every time you start the engine which is a pain.

At least in the Peugeot it's just one button to press. In say, a Skoda Octavia vRS you have to go into the touch screen config menu every time the car is switched off.