Petrol or Diesel?

[TW]Fox · 11 May 2009 at 23:38

Peerzy said:
Ah my bad, I know they do a 335i and just assumed it was in the 5 as well. Would an M3 not be a good mix?

Unlikely to be able to justify the expense of a V8 E92 M3, and the E46 is not a worthy replacement for an E39.

Why did you get a 530i over a 330i then as isn't the 330i slightly quicker, and basically the same car just slightly smaller?

I preffered the 530i - it is better built, I personally liked the interior better and I prefered the way it looked. The drive was not really hugely different. The 3 was slightly sharper at the expense of being slightly less refined. No angel eyes either :eek:

iaind · 11 May 2009 at 23:41

Tute said:
Whoa hang on a second.

Iain Dingsdale? As in the guy from Exeter School?

Indeed!

Tute · 11 May 2009 at 23:45

iaind said:
246lb/ft at some number of rpm, not sure what

I may get smelly hands when I fill up, but I dont need to visit very often

iaind said:
Indeed!

LOL there's a small world for you.

And you don't wanna know who I am.

Tute · 11 May 2009 at 23:50

All this talk of BMW 530d and 530i - i'm afraid they're not really my cup of tea. Nice cars though.

There seems to be quite a gap in economy where i'm looking - around 2.0TDI or 1.8/2.0 petrol. Claimed figures put the petrols in the 40s with the diesels in the mid 50s (this is with the Foci).

Peerzy · 11 May 2009 at 23:54

Tute said:
All this talk of BMW 530d and 530i - i'm afraid they're not really my cup of tea. Nice cars though.

There seems to be quite a gap in economy where i'm looking - around 2.0TDI or 1.8/2.0 petrol. Claimed figures put the petrols in the 40s with the diesels in the mid 50s (this is with the Foci).

It really does depend which make of car you want in the end.

Ford's petrols could be utter pants and the dervs amazing or the other way around. No point getting set on a derv if it's the worlds worst engine just to save 3p a year.

iaind · 11 May 2009 at 23:54

The trust doesnt lie

I think the thread got sidetracked by Fox's anti diesel posts which inevitably lead onto BMW 530s...

Realistically those figures will end up as high 30s for the petrol and high 40s for the diesel. My money for that sort of journey would definitely be on the diesel, but go out and try the cars you like, see what suits you

Tute · 11 May 2009 at 23:58

It's really irritating, as in all truth i'm a bit of a n00b to all this. Sure, I know what makes to watch out for, and what are better than others, but with regards to driving it I don't really know what makes a good car and what doesn't.

So i'm not really sure which suits my driving "style" at all. I guess I want something that's going to eat the motorway miles comfortably but that also has a bit of room for hooning around from time to time. Then again, that doesn't really narrow it down. :/

I don't feel a test drive would give a long enough time to get to grips with it.

[TW]Fox · 11 May 2009 at 23:59

I'm not anti diesel I'm just anti diesel hype.

iaind · 12 May 2009 at 00:02

You could always ask the dealers for a long term test drive, a lot will do that especially on newer cars...

There is no right or wrong in the way a car drives, you just need to find something that you like the feel of.

If I wanted a mile muncher I'd definitely be looking in the class above though

mjt · 12 May 2009 at 00:07

Tute said:
It's really irritating, as in all truth i'm a bit of a n00b to all this. Sure, I know what makes to watch out for, and what are better than others, but with regards to driving it I don't really know what makes a good car and what doesn't.

So i'm not really sure which suits my driving "style" at all. I guess I want something that's going to eat the motorway miles comfortably but that also has a bit of room for hooning around from time to time. Then again, that doesn't really narrow it down. :/

Diesels can be fun for hooning, and i would say they're better suited to bumbling up and down motorways and A roads than [small engined] petrols.

almost all of my driving is C roads, with a bit of B roads now and again. The diesel is fine, as the roads are narrow and twisty. just stick it in 5th and off you go. i only change gear if i meet a bus, which means you can keep the good fuel economy while still driving fast.
when i first got the car, i was changing gears constantly and it wouldn't do more than 40mpg as i was accelerating and breaking all the time.
now i can get up to 47mpg driving like my mum, or still get 42 doing hooning at silly speeds...

the only place it feels slow is from standing starts. pulling out of the C road and onto the B road, you really feel the weight as it takes ages to get to 60..

Tute · 12 May 2009 at 00:10

Well it's going to come down to price then really. Have to see what I can get for my money, and go from there.

Thanks all, at least now I know how to work out what would be better for me.

When I was at the Honda dealer today there was a nice 05 plate Civic Type-S, maybe I should just go for that?

Pudney · 12 May 2009 at 00:21

Purely from my own personal empirical evidence and despite prefering petrols diesels tend to be cheaper on insurance as well. Which is an extra saving.

This is still my personal experience though

iaind · 12 May 2009 at 07:53

If you like the honda and the way it drives then go for it, I dont think many people will have anything bad to say about them. Any details of it?

I dont think on the whole diesels are more expensive to insure but everyone's mileage will vary (pun intended

) - my Mondeo TDCi costs just under £300 to insure FC and I'm 24...

Dogbreath · 12 May 2009 at 12:19

Chaosboss said:
My lil diesel car only costs £35 to tax for the YEAR...take that in to consideration!

And how much did you pay for this car in order to save a few quid a year?

Tute · 12 May 2009 at 15:06

iaind said:
If you like the honda and the way it drives then go for it, I dont think many people will have anything bad to say about them. Any details of it?

I dont think on the whole diesels are more expensive to insure but everyone's mileage will vary (pun intended ) - my Mondeo TDCi costs just under £300 to insure FC and I'm 24...

It's expensive to insure, and i'm a bit apprehensive. At the very least i'm going to have a good look around, it'll probably be gone by the time I come back if I do decide to.

LiE · 12 May 2009 at 15:34

I'm getting deja vu reading this thread - haven't we been over the petrol VS diesel thing many times?

OllyM · 12 May 2009 at 18:16

[TW]Fox;14056524 said:
No idea where 214bhp comes from - the E60 530d is currently and has always been 231bhp (Although a newer 245bhp variant of this engine exists it hasnt yet made its way into the 5.. not sure why)>

The E60 530d when it was first introduced did have 218bhp, not 231 - the change to 231 came when they changed from the old style keys to the new style with starter button in 2005 I think.

greengiant · 12 May 2009 at 18:55

Captain_Slick said:
But a lot of new small petrol cars are tax free...

Yes, but how much do you have to spend to get a car which is tax free?

The_Dark_Side · 12 May 2009 at 19:00

greengiant said:
Yes, but how much do you have to spend to get a car which is tax free?

If you're planing to buy another car anyway then that's irrelevant.
For most people, the first thing they do is decide the budget, then see what that budget will get them.
Anyone who's going to spend upwards of £6k in order to save £100/year or so is obviously foolish.....but exactly how many people do that?

mjt · 12 May 2009 at 19:06

OllyM said:
The E60 530d when it was first introduced did have 218bhp, not 231 - the change to 231 came when they changed from the old style keys to the new style with starter button in 2005 I think.

no, the 218 was only very briefly, when it had the double down-turned exhaust.
the 231bhp only came a few months later, when it got the fancy particle filters and the standard chrome double exhaust

huh, apparently i'm wrong
so wtf was with that crappy downturned exhaust then?