V60 D4 Estate or BMW Efficient Dynamics

[DanUKSW]

Hi,

Current BMW E90 330D saloon owner here and looking for something a bit more family oriented that has a little bit of poke and economy...and only about 7k ish to spare! Have toyed with the idea of:

• A 2010 330D BMW Touring [Average 47.9mpg / £195 tax]
  
• A 'regular' BMW 320D Touring circa 2011 - 2013 [Average 58.9mpg / £120 tax]
• An Efficient Dynamics Touring circa 2013 [Average 65.7 mpg / £30 tax]
  
• A 2012 - 2014 Volvo D4 Business Edition [Average 74.3 mpg / £0 tax]
  

I've done a fair bit of playing with the figures and everything, bar the 330D, gives me substantial savings on my 40 mile a day round trip, based on the average 'mixed' MPG and yearly tax I see on Autotrader.

I hadn't thought about Volvo until I accidentally stumbled on the V60 D4 last week, with its zero tax and 70+ mpg average. It tops the 'savings' chart I have easily, second only to the BMW Efficient Dynamics. I know it has a substantially lower boot space with seats down but I am not that bothered about it.

I wonder how accurate the Volvo economy is and also what sort of comparison I could make to Volvo servicing costs so I would be interested to hear from anyone who has had any of the aforementioned beemers and moved to or from the D4.

Thanks

Dan

[Clan]

Originally Posted by DanUKSW

Hi,

Current BMW E90 330D saloon owner here and looking for something a bit more family oriented that has a little bit of poke and economy...and only about 7k ish to spare! Have toyed with the idea of:

• A 2010 330D BMW Touring [Average 47.9mpg / £195 tax]
  
• A 'regular' BMW 320D Touring circa 2011 - 2013 [Average 58.9mpg / £120 tax]
• An Efficient Dynamics Touring circa 2013 [Average 65.7 mpg / £30 tax]
  
• A 2012 - 2014 Volvo D4 Business Edition [Average 74.3 mpg / £0 tax]
  

I've done a fair bit of playing with the figures and everything, bar the 330D, gives me substantial savings on my 40 mile a day round trip, based on the average 'mixed' MPG and yearly tax I see on Autotrader.

I hadn't thought about Volvo until I accidentally stumbled on the V60 D4 last week, with its zero tax and 70+ mpg average. It tops the 'savings' chart I have easily, second only to the BMW Efficient Dynamics. I know it has a substantially lower boot space with seats down but I am not that bothered about it.

I wonder how accurate the Volvo economy is and also what sort of comparison I could make to Volvo servicing costs so I would be interested to hear from anyone who has had any of the aforementioned beemers and moved to or from the D4.

Thanks

Dan

The V60 is capable of 70 mpg that's a longer journey without exceeding 60 mph … It's not the average you will get unless you stick to 60 mph on the motorways .. doing 80 mph will give around 52 mpg and general running around should not be less than 40 mpg . Figures for the 2014 and later 4 cylinder 2.0 diesel , the pre 2014 5 cylinder 2400 cc or 2000 cc is a bit more thirsty .
The V60 is not supposed to be an estate car you need the V70 for that …
The floor space is the same but the lowered roof line restricts the bulk of stuff you can get in .

[DanUKSW]

Thanks, I currently get circa 44mpg out of my 330D doing mainly A roads, so I was hoping I might easily get more than that out of the Volvo. I figured, perhaps simplistically, that if I'm hitting the quoted average for my car then there's a good chance it might be the same for others too.

[Tannaton]

Spreadsheet comparisons are of limited use - go and drive them....

[barnesyboy]

Don't be drawn into the D4 by the official figures without realising they are hugely optimistic. I am getting 43mpg with mixed use which is disappointing for me, maybe I expect too much since it's no lightweight and on 19" wheels etc. My V6 3.0 litre 240hp Jag XF managed 39 without pressing ECO every time. I have not had the other models listed but did have a 120d MSport 183hp and that was about 51mpg, so a newer version of the 320d engine and a lighter car I would think; your stated 58.9 mpg maybe if you are doing 65 on a motorway.

Don't get me wrong I'm extremely happy with my S60 D4 just pointing out the discrepancy in Volvo's official figures and real life driving.

[Clan]

Originally Posted by barnesyboy

Don't be drawn into the D4 by the official figures without realising they are hugely optimistic. I am getting 43mpg with mixed use which is disappointing for me, maybe I expect too much since it's no lightweight and on 19" wheels etc. My V6 3.0 litre 240hp Jag XF managed 39 without pressing ECO every time. I have not had the other models listed but did have a 120d MSport 183hp and that was about 51mpg, so a newer version of the 320d engine and a lighter car I would think; your stated 58.9 mpg maybe if you are doing 65 on a motorway.

Don't get me wrong I'm extremely happy with my S60 D4 just pointing out the discrepancy in Volvo's official figures and real life driving.

Those are not volvos figures , manufacturers are not allowed to quote their own figures .. They are figures obtained by the government on one rolling road , all cars are tested under the same conditions so it is only a way of comparing one car against the other , which is ideal for Dan . his 70 mpg average for a BMW cant be from the government test can it? I know a D4 V60 will do that on a long 56 mph run ...but true average is about mid to high 40's .. with the New 4 cylinder 2.0 VEA engine

[barnesyboy]

I understand they are not Volvo's but still are quoted everywhere and like all manufacturer quoted figures need to be taken with a pinch pf salt. My point being that that figure looks fantastic but the reality is far from it.

[scoobysn7x]

I have a V60 D4 R Design, 2013 with the 5 cylinder engine, I love it, it's nice to drive, quick enough to be fun, handles well.

Those figures seem very optimistic, I have a short 5/6 mile each way daily commute, and my mpg shows about 43-44. On a longer run at motorway speeds (75/80mph) I can see normally see 50+, I could get more but I'm happy to get that rather than hyper mile everywhere at 56mph.

I've had a few deisels mondeo TDCI, IS220D, Astra CDTI, C30 D3, V60 D4, and always seen the best MPG's on identical journeys from the volvos, the mondeo was close but not quite as good as the Volvos (the IS220D was woeful for a Diesel best I saw was 37mpg on a long run to manchester, same run in the D4 52mpg).

As others have said go a drive them, most 2.0D accross car manufacturers will do similarish mpg, the 5 cylinder diesel volvo engines are very hard to beat really nice power delivery all through the rev range, really nice growl from the 5 cylinder engine, they respond really well to a remaps my C30 was 200BHP and average 45mpg :-)

[Clan]

Originally Posted by barnesyboy

I understand they are not Volvo's but still are quoted everywhere and like all manufacturer quoted figures need to be taken with a pinch pf salt. My point being that that figure looks fantastic but the reality is far from it.

as I said , Manufactures are not allowed to quote fuel consumption figures of their own . So anything you do see quoted is the standard government test so can be compared to other vehicles ...

[DanUKSW]

Thanks for the responses.

I will test drive if I can but before doing that I wanted to at least ascertain if it was even worth me looking at this particular vehicle.

Test drives won't give me the sort of MPG I will actually experience (unless I borrow it for some time to do a number of work runs) or tell me what the servicing is in comparison to a beemer, hence the original questions I asked.

I was hoping that the quoted MPGs could be used relative to each other so if my beemer's quoted MPG is X and the Volvo's quoted is Y then, regardless of whether both values match the actual figures, I could expect my MPG to be better off accordingly. My initial figures suggest I could save £900 a year on fuel and tax alone but if Volvo's figures are a lot less reliable than BMW's figures then the way I am comparing is pointless!

Is it condition based servicing on the Volvo or at intervals?

If I look at my BMW independent garage bills I'm seeing:

- oil change and filter £128
- front brake pads and discs change £285
- MOT with brake fluid replace £86

What sort of costs involved for typical service items?

Thanks

Dan