Which 1 Series Would You Choose? (Petrol vs Diesel)
Which 1 Series Would You Choose? (Petrol vs Diesel)
Author
Discussion

Dave80s

Original Poster:

351 posts

229 months

Tuesday 10th April 2012
quotequote all
Both 08 plates, 3 door hatches and in very good condition.

One is a 123d, 33k miles approx £12500
One is a 130i, 55k miles approx £11750

Both well specced but the 130i has sat nav and xenons.
Both have full history, not needing a service or MOT for at least 10 months.

Insurance quotes came out the same (130i a bit cheaper).
I do about 10k a year so would be about £700 difference - in fuel and road tax (£115 vs £250).

I am not really a diesel man but this did get me thinking.

Any guidance? Especially from owners of either or both!

Liquid Tuna

1,403 posts

177 months

Tuesday 10th April 2012
quotequote all
Petrol.

yozzer

98 posts

223 months

Tuesday 10th April 2012
quotequote all
130i all day long.

The 123d is a good car but given the choice the 3.0 wins

falkster

4,258 posts

224 months

Tuesday 10th April 2012
quotequote all
I think I'd try the diesel!! Do they suffer from any inherent engine troubles like the older 3 series?

Crusoe

4,114 posts

252 months

Tuesday 10th April 2012
quotequote all
For 10k a year petrol, 123d is quite low geared compared to the 120d so you only get low 40s at best instead of the 50s+ in the 120d. 130i will average in the 30s so not much in it but you get a nicer less stressed creamy straight six rather than all the potential issues with the diesel

XitUp

7,690 posts

225 months

Tuesday 10th April 2012
quotequote all
Petrol. Why would you pick the diesel to save just £700?

Kwistof

851 posts

180 months

Tuesday 10th April 2012
quotequote all
XitUp said:
Petrol. Why would you pick the diesel to save just £700?
+1 all the way!

You got any links OP?

Dave80s

Original Poster:

351 posts

229 months

Tuesday 10th April 2012
quotequote all
£700 a year that is.

Price of a sandwich per day!

Links below:

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3783986.htm

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3752439.htm

Neezer

391 posts

249 months

Tuesday 10th April 2012
quotequote all
I own a 123d, 5 door hatch with the m-sport suspension. Length of ownership around 4 years now, and its on a 57 plate. Never had a single issue with it thus far, touch wood.

The only thing to look for on the 123d is clutch judder sometimes from cold, although I'm reliably informed that this is a general issue with 1 Series of that ilk anyway.

Driving wise it has tons and tons of grip and fairly linear power/torque delivery for a diesel, what I mean by this is that it doesn't have that 'surge' you may be used to from other diesels, which can make it feel slower than it really is. The throttle response it pretty good too. The M-sport suspension was criticised in some quarters for being too hard, although it is more compliant than most 'hot hatches' such as a leon Cupra R (in my experience). Steering wise there is a nice weight to it with a decent level of feel, although it isn't up there with the likes of a Griffith 500 (ok I don't have that many cars to compare it to). Fuel consumption wise I average around 40mpg with a mixture of town and country. On a run on NSL carriageway single roads it'll do around 50 average. You also get stop start.

Things to bear in mind: Expensive tyres if on run flats. Unrepairable if you get a puncture (please somebody correct me on this!!) and therefore an instant bill of around £210.

Edited to add: If i were to choose between the 2 today I would probably go for the 130i, especially if that comes with the sat nav, unless your daily commute is over 20 miles. If you are going to be using them on short journeys to make up the 10k then the difference in consumption will be negligable anyway.. You'll only really benefit if you drive longer journeys on a regular basis.

Edited by Neezer on Tuesday 10th April 14:07

XitUp

7,690 posts

225 months

Tuesday 10th April 2012
quotequote all
Get a bike and cycle to work at least one day a week and you'll probably save that £700.

Pints

18,448 posts

215 months

Tuesday 10th April 2012
quotequote all
Liquid Tuna said:
Petrol.
Correct answer in the first reply.

You can pat yourselves on the back. Nothing more to see here.

sleep envy

62,260 posts

270 months

Tuesday 10th April 2012
quotequote all
What kind of driving do you do?


Kwistof

851 posts

180 months

Tuesday 10th April 2012
quotequote all
Dave80s said:
£700 a year that is.

Price of a sandwich per day!

Links below:

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3783986.htm

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3752439.htm
Still go for the 130i, especially as it's recently had the major service and regularly detailed.

Can't see anything about the 123D service history etc.

edition

985 posts

211 months

Tuesday 10th April 2012
quotequote all
130i really good car imo all thought I am biased.....

I average 29-30mpg in mine.

Zwolf

25,867 posts

227 months

Tuesday 10th April 2012
quotequote all
Hard to ever pass up a BMW petrol six in favour of an oil-burning four.

At one year, they're even. At two it's cost an additional £1 per day to have the 3.0.

6.0 secs & 155mph plays 7.0 secs and 142 mph. So 130i, total no-brainer. Preferably a 3dr LE.


Edited by Zwolf on Tuesday 10th April 14:20

Grovsie26

1,302 posts

188 months

Tuesday 10th April 2012
quotequote all
Neither, an E46 M3. biggrin

Krikkit

27,758 posts

202 months

Tuesday 10th April 2012
quotequote all
Why the fugly hatch and not the coupé if you're going 3-door?

chris116

1,175 posts

189 months

Tuesday 10th April 2012
quotequote all
Another vote for the 130i. I have run a 123d in the past and although it's pretty good for a 4 cylinder diesel I would still choose the petrol 6 over it given the choice.

Zwolf

25,867 posts

227 months

Tuesday 10th April 2012
quotequote all
Krikkit said:
Why the fugly hatch and not the coupé if you're going 3-door?
Because then it becomes either 125i (using an electronically restricted 3.0) or 135i. Which I suspect costs a bit more to insure and I haven't seen any sub £15k yet.

TallbutBuxomly

12,254 posts

237 months

Tuesday 10th April 2012
quotequote all
130 easily. Brother has a 125 convertible and it is a lovely piece of kit. Makes a great noise etc. Only failing is that like most modern cars weighs far far too much.