BMW 220i / 228i - Thoughts?

EdGey

EdGey

EdGey

Soldato
Joined
21 Jan 2008
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Location
England
Hi

I've grown tired of spiritedly thrashing my Ford Fiesta down country roads - it's time for an upgrade.

I had my heart set on a Golf GTI for the longest time but the 228i especially has caught my eye - it seems like a lot of car for the money. What are your thoughts?

What I've been looking at:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classi...onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=New&page=1

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classi...ne-size=2.0&sort=price-asc&radius=1500&page=1

I take it the 0-60 statistic is false on both of these as the slower 220i does it in 7 seconds. Do the 220i and 228i have the same engine only the later is turbo charged?

What say you mighty ocuk?
 
The engine is the same on both - the 228i is in a higher state of tune. You are correct in that the 0-60 time on the 228i is wrong, its considerably quicker than that - under 6 seconds to 60.

There is little reason to buy a 220i over a 228i because they cost exactly the same to run only the 228i offers far stronger performance.

Beware cheap low spec cars - there are many. It is a 1 Series at heart and a base spec car is quite a miserable thing, you need to find one with the proper widescreen nav and automatic gearbox.
 
Thanks.

I found some manuals deliberately but perhaps I should reconsider - truthfully I have next to no experience driving auto. I've just seen one with the larger screen which is now a must have.

I have looked briefly at the 135i, that's a surprisingly nice one for the money.
 
I think the Widescreen (Professional?)Nav is down to personal preference, the standard Nav in my partners 1 doesn’t bother me - nor her - at all but I would say aesthetics wise it looks far more out of sorts in say a 5 Series.

I would strongly concur re the gearbox, the automatic transforms the way the car drives - very much for the better - and even if you don’t like automatics I’d still try one back to back with a manual before you rule it out as an option.

A nice upgrade over a Fiesta and I’d prefer a 2 Series over a Golf.
 
Scania said:
I think the Widescreen (Professional?)Nav is down to personal preference, the standard Nav in my partners 1 doesn’t bother me
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To be fair I can't imagine it would coming from a two line monochrome radio display in an E38, in much the same way as the quality of a Burger King doesn't bother me because I'm used to McDonalds :D
 
[TW]Fox said:
To be fair I can't imagine it would coming from a two line monochrome radio display in an E38, in much the same way as the quality of a Burger King doesn't bother me because I'm used to McDonalds :D
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Your forgetting that my daily driver has a far better display than that and to be honest I can’t remember the last time I used the navigation function. ;)
x2UiUee.jpg
 
[TW]Fox said:
The engine is the same on both - the 228i is in a higher state of tune. You are correct in that the 0-60 time on the 228i is wrong, its considerably quicker than that - under 6 seconds to 60.
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OOI - are we sure about that, I had posted an earlier article explaining how BMW use pistons and other engine components of different manufacturing tolerances,bore machining, and metallurgy for the different power levels ... saving millions on the lesser powered cars. .. so all N20's are not the same.
 
jpaul said:
OOI - are we sure about that, I had posted an earlier article explaining how BMW use pistons and other engine components of different manufacturing tolerances,bore machining, and metallurgy for the different power levels ... saving millions on the lesser powered cars. .. so all N20's are not the same.
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You can tell from the numbers they give the engines (the zero on the end is important).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_2_Series_(F22)#Engines

Even if what you said was right, they are still the same engine with the same components.

https://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/a26012964/how-bmw-names-its-engines/
 
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The engines are different internally, it’s the same with the Cooper S and JCW Mini the lower state of tune engine has the same turbo but weaker internals. It’s why when tuners just upped the boost on the Cooper S engines to the same level as tuned JCWs pistons started leaving the block !

The safe tuned level of the low power engine is around 250 higher power one is good for 300 + pretty sure the JCW Minis can hit 330bhp on the stock turbo.
 
However they are both still N20 engines with the same capacity and the same consumption and servicing costs. Which was my point.
 
I've got an N20 428i. Nice engine, although in hindsight I should've driven both engines before buying.
Suggest you drive both the 228i and 235i before making any decisions.
 
re-post on example of bmw engine internal differences
....
Today there are 3 versions of this cylinder: UL, OL and TOP.

  • UL stands for lower-performance, the piston is made out of a simple aluminum-alloy, the crankshaft is simple-forged and uses a sintered connecting rod. It can cover up to 25kw/75nm per cylinder and is used in models like the x16d, x18d and x25d (exept the f10 model after 2011)

  • OL stands for upper-perfomance, the cylinder path is honed several times, it has forged connecting rods and the bearings of the rods and crankshaft are sputtered bearing. It can cover up to 35kw/100nm and is used in models like x20d, x30d.

  • TOP is for high performance, including a special treated crankshaft as well as laser-treated cylinder-paths. With this it is possible to increase injection-pressure and rated speed. This cylinders are used in models like x23d, 525d (after 2011) and x35d/x40d.
...
Through supercharging you can give any amount of power to a engine, but it will not be able to handle it. So when you think your 118i with its 170hp could do way more, but the stupid people at BMW are just to lazy to get more power out of that engine let me tell you: a 118i is capable of over 300hp, even keeping all emissions in the green zone, but he won't make that for long.
Basically in the automotive industry you can say:
  • not everything is at it seems
  • wenn there is a way to save €, it will be done
  • espacially in the automovie industry many facts from media or magazines/books are incorrect

...
Regarding damage, these mostly occure long time after the tuning. Usually after 50k-80k km the problems start. Many people do not own the cars anymore by that time, and the subsequent owner doesn't know about the bad suprise that might happen. If a damage is found in the repair shop, they often just change the part and thats it. Often nobody suspects a tuning chip as the main reason (you know.. tuners say "its all good man!)....
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