2008 BMW 123d M Sport

[BE57 TOY]

Hi all

I've been offered the above for a very cheap price. The snag is that the cars got 130,000 miles on it and I do 20,000 PA myself.

The car has full service history and 2 previous owners.

Should I be worried about the mileage, given my mileage? Is there anything in particular I should be looking out for?

Hopefully the thread wont fill with too many diesel horror stories. Please keep it factual to what you've experienced yourself and not hearsay.

Thanks in advance!

[gizlaroc]

Depends how long you will keep it for really and what price?

You could buy a 58 plate for around 10k with 50k miles on it.
Drive that for 3 years and sell it with 110k miles for about 7k, a loss of 3k.

Buy the 58 plate with 120k miles on it and put another 40k miles on it and you will be at 16k miles, and a value of around 3-4k maybe?
So, it needs to be around 6k ideally to make any sense financially.

Rememeber though that a car going from 120-160k will have loads more to sort out, bushes, suspension struts, springs, maybe gearbox etc. etc.


If you are going to run it for 4 years and sell it for 2k with 200,000 miles on it at 8 years old then maybe consider it?
If you are someone who does 5k miles a year, then no problem, but buying at 4 years old and 120k miles it has to be a very good price to make any sense.

[BE57 TOY]

Thanks.

Does anyone know if these cars are more or less reliable than the 120d?

Is the only difference the extra turbo on the 123d?

[philmots]

An extra turbo is something else to go wrong, weather they do or not I don't know!

They have a shorter final drive than the 120d so economy is a chunk down at steady motorway speeds.

[gizlaroc]

I got 39mpg average from my 123d auto and 47mpg average from my 320d auto touring.

As said, 123d gearing is crap for motorway. It likes to sit at 65mph, I like to sit at 85mph.

[smashy]

gizlaroc said:

I got 39mpg average from my 123d auto and 47mpg average from my 320d auto touring.

As said, 123d gearing is crap for motorway. It likes to sit at 65mph, I like to sit at 85mph.

...and THIS post has just stopped me putting it on my wishlist.

[JNW1]

smashy said:

gizlaroc said:

I got 39mpg average from my 123d auto and 47mpg average from my 320d auto touring.

As said, 123d gearing is crap for motorway. It likes to sit at 65mph, I like to sit at 85mph.

...and THIS post has just stopped me putting it on my wishlist.

The engine in the 123d is as sweet as four cyliner diesels come but from personal experience I'd say gizlaroc is bang on the money; the car is geared to do around 33mph/'000 in top and that's about 5mph too low IMO. My car is a manual and I get about 45-46mpg overall (not many short runs, some round town running but probably 70% A-roads and motorways).

[White Lightning]

Does anyone know why the gearing on the 123d is different from the 120d in terms of its final drive?? I'm not sure i understand BMW's thinking on this. I only ask as i've recently bought a 123d M Sport Coupe myself and the average MPG im getting is a fair bit down on my mates 320d M Sport Coupe.

[gizlaroc]

I think they do it to make it feel faster through the gears, feel sportier.

My 18d X1 is the same, the 20d will sit happily at 80mph doing 1600rpm, where as my 18d is doing 2100rpm.

[White Lightning]

I suppose that might help for the lower gears.....but surely the final drive can be made in such a way as to help with fuel economy??

I guess my knowledge of the limitations of gearbox design doesnt help here. lol.

[JNW1]

White Lightning said:

Does anyone know why the gearing on the 123d is different from the 120d in terms of its final drive?? I'm not sure i understand BMW's thinking on this. I only ask as i've recently bought a 123d M Sport Coupe myself and the average MPG im getting is a fair bit down on my mates 320d M Sport Coupe.

I suppose the benefit is that 6th gear is usable more of the time on give and take A and B roads. However, if you do a lot of your driving on motorways and dual carriageways there's no doubt in my mind that the lower gearing hurts fuel consumption.

[bmw120d]

JNW1 said:

I suppose the benefit is that 6th gear is usable more of the time on give and take A and B roads. However, if you do a lot of your driving on motorways and dual carriageways there's no doubt in my mind that the lower gearing hurts fuel consumption.

Having had a 120d there great if you’re doing 65 70 they will do good mpg but and it’s a big BUT!! If your right foot happy then you’re in for a shock, mine averaged about 31-32mpg in three years “”

[gizlaroc]

bmw120d said:

Having had a 120d there great if you’re doing 65 70 they will do good mpg but and it’s a big BUT!! If your right foot happy then you’re in for a shock, mine averaged about 31-32mpg in three years “”

The early ones, pre 2006 were poor, I had an auto and that averaged 33.6.

[tim2100]

bmw120d said:

JNW1 said:

I suppose the benefit is that 6th gear is usable more of the time on give and take A and B roads. However, if you do a lot of your driving on motorways and dual carriageways there's no doubt in my mind that the lower gearing hurts fuel consumption.

Having had a 120d there great if you’re doing 65 70 they will do good mpg but and it’s a big BUT!! If your right foot happy then you’re in for a shock, mine averaged about 31-32mpg in three years “”

The newer ones are far better. I get 37.55mpg on mine Mostly round town with a heavy right foot.

[smashy]

gizlaroc said:

The early ones, pre 2006 were poor, I had an auto and that averaged 33.6.

...interesting My 120d auto ED ,you can get on the motorway drive like you stole it and it willstill return 41-42.

Ona 15 mile run on the M4 doing 55-60 it gave me 72mpg

[smashy]

Ihave asked thisq before and never got ananswer so illhave another go.

So as we know a manual 123d will have higher gearing than 123d.

Does that mean an auto 123d will have the same issue againsta 120d Auto?

[StottyZr]

Earlier today I was thinking about the final drive on the 123d, I'm not usually a conspiracy theorist but it gots me thinking about the Saab 9-3 TTid. I think it uses a similar sequential turbocharger setup to the 123d. Oddly, the 180bhp TTid is the best on fuel in the Saab range (averaging 63mpg). Maybe, just maybe, the gearing is much shorter on the 123d as it would be better on fuel than the 120d otherwise.

[JNW1]

smashy said:

Ihave asked thisq before and never got ananswer so illhave another go.

So as we know a manual 123d will have higher gearing than 123d.

Does that mean an auto 123d will have the same issue againsta 120d Auto?

Not 100% sure from the above what you're asking but a manual 120d has higher gearing than a 123d and I suspect the same will apply to the auto equivalents as well (so a 120d auto will probably be higher geared than a 123d auto). My guess would be that if anything the 123d auto will be geared a little bit higher than the 123d manual but I haven't driven a 123d auto so can't say for sure!