Looking at BMW 318 touring, what to look out for

Juggy1985

Juggy1985

Juggy1985

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Hey all, Thinking of getting a 318 touring. Got a Lexus IS220d at the moment and its just too small being into mountain biking and having a kid. The Lexus is terrible on fuel, lucky to get 32mpg.

Dont really want to spend more than 13k, so looking at between 07 plate and 09. Seen a few on the sytner site, looking at the emissions is confusing though, this 2009 318 M sport says 144g/km while this 2007 318 is 182g/km both 2 litre engines though.

Any tips welcome
 
Because they are two different engines. The 2009 car will have the later EfficientDynamics N43 engine. The 2007 318i does not.
 
I can't for the life of me understand why someone would pay £13,000 for a 318i. I know speed isn't the be all and end all for a lot of people when it comes to car purchases, but the 2007 one does 0-62 in 10.4 seconds and has 130bhp. The 2009 one ain't much better! And if you are hoping for more than 32mpg, i wouldn't hold your breath! You aren't going to get much more than that at all.

Have you looked at a 320d? I hate 4 cyl diesels but i have to say - i would rather have a 320d than a 318i.
 
been put off diesels by diesel prices and the low mile's the car will do (around 6000 a year), plus i havent heard a diesel yet that doesnt sound like a tractor. I dont want a turbo because its just another thing to go wrong. I dont need a race car, aslong as it does the national speed limit quite comfortably them im more than happy. Need a bigger than saloon car idealy as we do all our holidaying in the UK so luggage hauling, plus pushchair and travel cot.

It sounds like the BMW 318 is the wrong car for me then, maybe an Audi estate would be better? or even a volvo?
 
Fair points on the 320d front.

I know 99% of people don't want a race car, but IMO, there is a level of "acceptable" performance. To me, the 318i just doesn't reach that level of performance. Oh and a 4-pot DI engine doesn't sound much better than a 4-pot diesel at idle!!

For me, acceptable performance is 170bhp in a car the size of an E90 Touring. And even by taking the performance hit of a 318i, it wouldn't even be like you'd be getting any more MPGs in return.

Maybe look at VW/Audi/Skoda 1.8T/2.0T engines?
 
The audi 2.0T engines are very high tax, the 1.8T are not too bad but are pretty darn rare! Have to keep an eye out for the Octavia estates see whats what. Just want a nice reliable estate, reasonable running costs but doesnt look like a turd! Didnt think it would be this hard.
 
If a primary concern of your car choice is luggage space in the boot then I think you're going about it awfully inefficiently buying a small engined 3-series touring. You can get a hell of a lot more car for your money with a lot more boot space.

Although you're not after race car performance one example is a Octavia VRS TDi Estate - if you ask me a lot more car for the money and should be nicely specced.
 
[TW]Fox;21706035 said:
What? No they are not?
Click to expand...

Your right, I looked at one and could swear I seen a tax band of L (£445p/y), but just looked at more and seen there all G (£165p/y) or H (£190).

I don't actually mind the look of the Octavia estates and you do get a lot for your money.

Definitely want petrol though! And don't want to spend more then £210 a year on tax or be higher than old insurance group 13 (my lex is old insurace group 13, new insurance group 28, the BMW 318 touring is old insurance group 12 new insurance group 22)

Don't really want Turbo because its just another added cost of something to go wrong, but it hard finding a non turbo estate it seems.

I just renewed the lexus insurance and it was £630 for the year for me and the missus. Tax is £190 for the year and service was £430 inc mot. Dont want to be more expensive than that to run.

Am I being too pickyor summut?!?
 
If you're going to be lugging things around, you might want to consider an engine with a little more grunt behind it? I'm not talking 335i, but even just going up to a 325i would mean quite a considerable improvement in performance, without sacrificing too much economy.

Don't forget as well, if you buy something underpowered, you're going to have to use more throttle to overcome it, thereby spending the fuel you would have saved.
 
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