what ive learnt about diesel
Discussion
bought a 5 month old 120d auto.i bought it because as a self employed sales agent i do a shedload of miles around the london suburbs.
What ive discovered is in traffic i dont think there is much in it diesel or petrol the obc is showing ave 33mpg .I think when your constantly moving then the difference kicks in ave 49 or so.The car has done less than 5000 miles so may get better. I dont like the throttle response of the diesel the way you accelerate and theres nothing then woosh your away guess thats turbo lag for you.
I had been thinking about the 3 ltr petrol that is supposed to be a sweet engine not sure if ive made the right move. Being an auto it doesnt have the stop/start tech. which must make a huge diffrence in traffic but i reckon could drive you up the wall
What ive discovered is in traffic i dont think there is much in it diesel or petrol the obc is showing ave 33mpg .I think when your constantly moving then the difference kicks in ave 49 or so.The car has done less than 5000 miles so may get better. I dont like the throttle response of the diesel the way you accelerate and theres nothing then woosh your away guess thats turbo lag for you.
I had been thinking about the 3 ltr petrol that is supposed to be a sweet engine not sure if ive made the right move. Being an auto it doesnt have the stop/start tech. which must make a huge diffrence in traffic but i reckon could drive you up the wall
With diesel now around 15p per litre more expensive than petrol, and the gap set to widen even further, I think you would have to be doing a serious amount of miles (well in excess of 20,000 per year) to even contemplate buying a diesel.
For this reason, and the fact that diesels are generally more expensive to maintain, and more prone to costly failures than petrols, I think that over the coming months, petrol engined cars will become more desireable than their diesel equivalent on the used market, and the greater resale value for diesel cars over petrol will be wiped out, and maybe even reversed.
For this reason, and the fact that diesels are generally more expensive to maintain, and more prone to costly failures than petrols, I think that over the coming months, petrol engined cars will become more desireable than their diesel equivalent on the used market, and the greater resale value for diesel cars over petrol will be wiped out, and maybe even reversed.
For reference, my 330i achieves an average fuel consumption of mid 20s, about 30 on long runs and at the moment is at just under 18mpg as it's only been used in traffic jams and short runs for the last 2 weeks. I'm guessing that a 130i will be better, but not massively so.
The amounts you're quoting for your 120D sound pretty good when compared.
The amounts you're quoting for your 120D sound pretty good when compared.
Make sure you reset the counter when you refil as we get old codgers in who are so anal about MPG it's shocking and you risk falling asleep in front of them, I digress. You need to reset it after each fill as the weather, road conditions, your driving style and what crap you carry in the boot affects it. (Can you tell I've just done an efficient dynamcis weekend?). A new car will not give the same MPG as one bedded in but I'd have thought 5000 miles would be enough, perhaps not. The 130i will be more expensive as it's brilliant fun and you won't resist that straight 6 howl.
carlovers said:
bought a 5 month old 120d auto.i bought it because as a self employed sales agent i do a shedload of miles around the london suburbs.
What ive discovered is in traffic i dont think there is much in it diesel or petrol the obc is showing ave 33mpg .I think when your constantly moving then the difference kicks in ave 49 or so.The car has done less than 5000 miles so may get better. I dont like the throttle response of the diesel the way you accelerate and theres nothing then woosh your away guess thats turbo lag for you.
I had been thinking about the 3 ltr petrol that is supposed to be a sweet engine not sure if ive made the right move. Being an auto it doesnt have the stop/start tech. which must make a huge diffrence in traffic but i reckon could drive you up the wall
I've a non-ED 130 and it does mid 20s around town and mid 30s on a run. I would assume the ED 130 would be a bit better all round but note you still wouldn't get the stop/start thingy as they only do it on (manual) 4 cylinder cars.What ive discovered is in traffic i dont think there is much in it diesel or petrol the obc is showing ave 33mpg .I think when your constantly moving then the difference kicks in ave 49 or so.The car has done less than 5000 miles so may get better. I dont like the throttle response of the diesel the way you accelerate and theres nothing then woosh your away guess thats turbo lag for you.
I had been thinking about the 3 ltr petrol that is supposed to be a sweet engine not sure if ive made the right move. Being an auto it doesnt have the stop/start tech. which must make a huge diffrence in traffic but i reckon could drive you up the wall
carlovers said:
just come in after 45 miles around middx done between 1.30 and 8pm the 120d auto (efficient dynamics!!!!)obc 31 mpg,thats the way it is i guess.
The auto box doesnt have the stop / start facility said to add 5 mpg to economy, plus the auto box takes probably 3mpg off the economy too, so you're probably 8mpg down.I dont like auto boxes on relatively small engines. I drove a 520d auto on a test drive and found it had to drop gears to get up and go around 50-60mph - the very time you'd want it not to.
If you dont like the nothing, nothing, whoosh of the auto box / turbo d combo, you might want to use sport mode around town - its simply because you're car isnt on its power band when you're accelerating - probably due to the box.
M5Dave said:
With diesel now around 15p per litre more expensive than petrol, and the gap set to widen even further, I think you would have to be doing a serious amount of miles (well in excess of 20,000 per year) to even contemplate buying a diesel.
10% more economy than the petrol and the diesel breaks even on that front. I have a non ED 320d at the moment and am getting 45mpg on average, 54mpg on long runs. Contrast that to the 320i i had as a loan car - gutless, asthmatic in its output, and only broke 30mpg on average. M5Dave said:
For this reason, and the fact that diesels are generally more expensive to maintain, and more prone to costly failures than petrols, I think that over the coming months, petrol engined cars will become more desireable than their diesel equivalent on the used market, and the greater resale value for diesel cars over petrol will be wiped out, and maybe even reversed.
How are diesels more expensive to maintain? One service every 15-20K miles which may be fractionally dearer. Maybe 1 in 100 will have a long term big bill, maybe not. Who knows?People have been predicting the drop in diesel car values for years. I really dont forsee it changing in the near future.
carlovers said:
bought a 5 month old 120d auto.i bought it because as a self employed sales agent i do a shedload of miles around the london suburbs.
What ive discovered is in traffic i dont think there is much in it diesel or petrol the obc is showing ave 33mpg .I think when your constantly moving then the difference kicks in ave 49 or so.
You're not comparing like with like. Sure 33mpg sounds similar to the headline figures for a 2.0 petrol, but try getting 33mpg out of a petrol engine in traffic. I think you will struggle to get 20. What ive discovered is in traffic i dont think there is much in it diesel or petrol the obc is showing ave 33mpg .I think when your constantly moving then the difference kicks in ave 49 or so.
I've got a 120d manual (non ED) and it's now covered approximately 28K over which it has averaged 47MPG. Note this is an average calculated from fuel used and miles driven and not OBC figures (which as it happens concurs). If I drive around town (London) the mpg may drop to low 40s and decent runs sees it around the 50 mark, but it never veries much.
I find the real benefit of diesel is in stop start driving, a petrol engine cannot get anywhere near the same economy in traffic. When my wife switched from a manual M3 Evo to a 330d auto the fuel consumption went from 17 to 28mpg on the same slow commute to work.
Regards
Chris
I find the real benefit of diesel is in stop start driving, a petrol engine cannot get anywhere near the same economy in traffic. When my wife switched from a manual M3 Evo to a 330d auto the fuel consumption went from 17 to 28mpg on the same slow commute to work.
Regards
Chris
to be honest guys thats made me feel better i couldnt handle high teens low 20s and now i realise that i should drive the car in sport auto mode its a lot more enjoyable.Actually its like a go kart point it and go!!!I have never had a bmw before have to say its very solidly built i like it very much.Bought from a main dealer 5 mths old £7500 off list .During my haggling process they showed me there financials ,they were making £1500 on the car .Some poor person lost £9000 in 4000 miles!!
Mpg will improve a bit as the miles go on. And, in my opinion, the slush box takes off 5 or more mpg on these cars.
My early 120D auto hasn't many miles on it (Less than 15k). But around town it doesn't really do more than 35mpg. On an easy going motorway run however, you can just about scrape 50+mpg from it.
Servicing costs have been negligible (more due to low mileage in my case). Diesel may be 10% or so more expensive than petrol now. But roughly speaking, you still go 30+% further on diesel. So diesel still has the advantage I reckon.
Its a good car and I like it
My only gripe being that like any 4 pot diesel, at idle it still sounds like a sack of spanners chucked down a fire escape. And the ride is a bit fidgety (runflats). Other than that, its all good.
P,
My early 120D auto hasn't many miles on it (Less than 15k). But around town it doesn't really do more than 35mpg. On an easy going motorway run however, you can just about scrape 50+mpg from it.
Servicing costs have been negligible (more due to low mileage in my case). Diesel may be 10% or so more expensive than petrol now. But roughly speaking, you still go 30+% further on diesel. So diesel still has the advantage I reckon.
Its a good car and I like it
My only gripe being that like any 4 pot diesel, at idle it still sounds like a sack of spanners chucked down a fire escape. And the ride is a bit fidgety (runflats). Other than that, its all good.P,
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