BMW Owners - Advice needed
- Thread starter Daveyboy
- Start date
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You're clearly not very aware of active BMW forums are. You only have to look the swirflaps thread on to see how many 100s of pages that can generate from BMW owners.
Again, you've completely missed the point. BMW engines operate at a higher price point, and in a more premium market than the TDCi. More R&D, more engineering time, better quality and sourcing of components, higher and more frequent number of engine revisions. Do you really think 'Engine Manufacturer of the Year' for numerous years is going to produce the cheapest possible piece of junk given the nature of their buyer and their reputation?
Fair enough, but even a very active forum only represents a tiny proportion of the ownership base.
Without a doubt they are better engines, but I still dont think the difference is as great as you might think in terms of reliability. A lot of the problems with modern diesel engines are due to the very nature of them being such complex beasts: injectors, turbos, DMFs etc can fail regardless of marque.
You seem to be implying that a Ford diesel will explode at every opportunity, when a BMW diesel will carry on to 300k miles without an issue - when neither of those things are the case.
In the absense of any real reliability data, it's impossible to prove either way. But the point is, no matter what the badge on the bonnet, a modern diesel is a risk - whether that risk is worthwhile or mitigated is down to the buyer.
Can someone here help me with my own personal dilema over whether to go for a 320d or a 320i? I literally flip from one to the other everytime I work out the costs.
I'm looking at two cars, same age(57 plate), same mileage, both E92. The diesel is £1K more than the petrol. I worked out, based on my anticipated mileage, difference in tax, and purchase price difference, that if I kept it for 5 years the petrol would effectively cost me about £250 a year more to run. In other words, if I bought the diesel I would have about an extra £1250 in my pocket after 5 years.
The question is then, is that enough of a difference to really be that bothered about the extra cost of the petrol car, given the comments in this thread that diesels are inherently more at risk of repairs? I.e. would you gamble £1250 for a diesel to have no serious engine problem in 5 years of use?
I'm looking at two cars, same age(57 plate), same mileage, both E92. The diesel is £1K more than the petrol. I worked out, based on my anticipated mileage, difference in tax, and purchase price difference, that if I kept it for 5 years the petrol would effectively cost me about £250 a year more to run. In other words, if I bought the diesel I would have about an extra £1250 in my pocket after 5 years.
The question is then, is that enough of a difference to really be that bothered about the extra cost of the petrol car, given the comments in this thread that diesels are inherently more at risk of repairs? I.e. would you gamble £1250 for a diesel to have no serious engine problem in 5 years of use?
This is slightly more complicated.
Firstly, the 320i is a 4 cylinder petrol engine and is therefore not going to be better 'in every way' than the diesel.
Secondly the 4 cylinder E92's have the full range of Efficient Dynamics stuff on them. Nobody knows how this extra complicated stuff is going to fare out of warranty as the warranty on them has not expired yet.
Given a choice between a 320d and a 320i I think I'd probably pick a 320d. I had a 320i E90 for 6 weeks in 2006 - and it was crap. By contrast the 320d's are good, for diesels.
What you really want is a 325i which has the N52B30 3 litre Six in it. Thats a good engine for a 3 Series Coupe. I do find it quite a shame that every time you see a really nice looking E92 it's a noisy 4 pot diesel. It almost puts me off a 335i
Cheers for the assessment. I put the fuel consumption figures for the 325i into my little spreadsheet and based on the 5 year life span and notional £1K price difference, the saving per year of the 320d goes up to £788, or £3900 in my pocket after 5 years.
I hear what you say about the performance of the 320i, I'm by no means a petrol head so ultimate performance is not *that* important to me but you've just about swayed me towards the 320d based on what you say is a clear difference in zip, and there are risks ascociated with the ED on both cars anyway.
I hear what you say about the performance of the 320i, I'm by no means a petrol head so ultimate performance is not *that* important to me but you've just about swayed me towards the 320d based on what you say is a clear difference in zip, and there are risks ascociated with the ED on both cars anyway.