Is it me....

[Alex121]

Or are BMW way ahead of the game when it comes to powerful diesels??

I was just browsing auto trader, as you do, when I looked up the BMW 325D series as a friend of mine is thinking of switching his 330CI to a 325D after assessing his fuel bill

I know they are usually driven by assh*les who think they're 'superior' in their German cars but these diesels seem a lot better than anything else out at the moment.

Take this one for example....

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classifi...325d?logcode=p

I can't deny it, I think it's a lovely looking car, but with T4 performance and near 50mpg I can see why so people buy these cars. The best Volvo currently have to offer is the D5 which isn't as good on fuel despite being a smaller engine and not as fast . Even the D4 isn't as good on fuel and power...

And there is this one that's due out:

http://www.gizmag.com/bmw-adds-four-...-m-cars/21227/

near 400hp in a 6 cylinder diesel and still 45mpg..

Of course, these are all paper figures not 'real world' but how are they achieving such high numbers from big powerful lumps??

[Harvey1512]

Don't be too deceived by the mpg figures given out by BMW. My brother in law has a 2.0d 3 series that should average 60mpg and after 40k miles he has yet to break 45mpg, no matter how he drives. His office is full of 3 and 1 series drivers, company cars, and even the 1 series people can't break 50mpg and none of the 3 series people have broken 45mpg.

To be fair to BMW it is not their fault the figures are wrong, it is the test method. Can you blame a mfr for setting their car up to do well in the tests as that is what they are judged on. It is like F1 cars being set up to win pole position in practice but then not be right for the race itself.

I have had a couple of VW group diesels and whilst their official figures are much lower than BMW versions I have actually managed to get pretty close to those figures making them more realistic to look at. There are a few websites out there now giving "real mpg" figures and they are worth looking at.

Incidentally, if BMW could meet the figures they claim then I would agree with you 100%, they do look exceptional.

[NewVolvo]

Well since leaving the UK for Germany we went with Bmw's (although not 100% as I still have my heart with Volvo and the 780 is parked at home!) and as example my wife's 118D auto does approx 51-52mpg on a long run, avg approx 45mpg. That being a 2-litre diesel with 143bhp and auto.

My previous 330D Touring Sport auto was tuned from 231bhp to 280bhp and still did 36mpg avg. On a long run it did 43mpg. That was a 6-cyl 3-litre engine.

My current, new, 535D Touring Sport auto has a twin turbo, 6-cyl, 313bhp engine, weights just under 2 tonnes (!) and still return a reasonable 33mpg avg. Albeit it has so far only a few thousand miles on the clock so it needs a bit more before I can see a better return.

Personally I don't think any car's "official" mpg is correct and one needs to deduct 10% before getting even close to the real day-to-day driving mpg.

But Bmw does seem to lead in the bhp, mpg and CO2 departments....

Btw, the new 550D xDrive (4wd) is already out here in Germany and has 381bhp. Due to the weight with standard 4x4 system it's not much quicker than the 535D and in various magazine tests have shown to take a lot of fuel (ie low mpg).

As a note, my 780 seems to be against the trend and go against Volvo's own figures of 25mpg as I set a new record last year in it at 33mpg!! And that for a 25 year old B280E engine

[V70RMW]

No need to worry about the a***holes - they're all driving Audi's now leaving the rest of us free to drive Beemers if we choose. Not that I do at the moment.

[Prufrock]

Originally Posted by Harvey1512

Don't be too deceived by the mpg figures given out by BMW. My brother in law has a 2.0d 3 series that should average 60mpg and after 40k miles he has yet to break 45mpg, no matter how he drives. His office is full of 3 and 1 series drivers, company cars, and even the 1 series people can't break 50mpg and none of the 3 series people have broken 45mpg.To be fair to BMW it is not their fault the figures are wrong, it is the test method. Can you blame a mfr for setting their car up to do well in the tests as that is what they are judged on. It is like F1 cars being set up to win pole position in practice but then not be right for the race itself.I have had a couple of VW group diesels and whilst their official figures are much lower than BMW versions I have actually managed to get pretty close to those figures making them more realistic to look at. There are a few websites out there now giving "real mpg" figures and they are worth looking at.Incidentally, if BMW could meet the figures they claim then I would agree with you 100%, they do look exceptional.

I personally do not like diesels but, a friend has a not very old Audi A8 with the 4.2 V8 diesel and gets a REAL 43 mpg or slightly more on a sedate run.

Mind you I can get near 30mpg with my 5.0 V8 petrol if driven"economically".

Prufrock.

[Moosejaw]

Can you imagine how amazing a petrol engine would be if it had high pressure common rail fuel delivery, three turbochargers and all the other race-tech gear that Dizzler has?

7-800bhpwith 1000Nm torque, probably more.

Let's face it, you'll never get an where near the manufacturer's claimed mpg figures (you never do...) and even if you got close, what kind of poor deluded fool spends £50k+ on a car that will probably generate over £1000 per year in maintenance bills even before all its turdo-weasel bits start acting up, and probably need £500-worth of new tyres every 10,000 miles if you use all those torques, and will lose £30k+ in depreciation over the first three years just so they can get a real world mid 30s mpg rather than low 20s mpg?

[Recognized]

Originally Posted by Moosejaw

Can you imagine how amazing a petrol engine would be

I read an article that petrol engines will be back with some new technology in them! In a fact new Ford Fiesta (cant remember if it fiesta or focus ) has 1l engine, that performs like 1.6! And still gets mpg like a diesel.

Here it is. I readed about it in The Sun, but that article will do.

http://www.ford.co.uk/experience-for...1LitreEcoBoost

[volvorocks]

What amazes me Alex is that BMW produce engines this powerful with such low CO2/exhaust emissions. I have no real experience with BMW, and whilst no car gets near official MPG figures (especially Volvo!!) I know people that have them or had them and 45-50 is still pretty good as an average.

Problem with BMW is that they are very expensive, and very common.

Regards

[Harvey1512]

Originally Posted by volvorocks

Problem with BMW is that they are very expensive, and very common.

Regards

And soooooooooooooo dull inside. Germanically efficient but so grey and bland. I'm not going to bash BMW, their sales alone would swat aside any comment I could make, but would it hurt them to make the interiors a little more welcoming? Saying that, if they did then other mfrs really would have to be frightened. Volvo's aren't perfect but the interiors have genuine design touches that make the car interesting and welcoming.

[volvorocks]

Originally Posted by Harvey1512

And soooooooooooooo dull inside. Germanically efficient but so grey and bland. I'm not going to bash BMW, their sales alone would swat aside any comment I could make, but would it hurt them to make the interiors a little more welcoming? Saying that, if they did then other mfrs really would have to be frightened. Volvo's aren't perfect but the interiors have genuine design touches that make the car interesting and welcoming.

Was talking to a chap the other day and his interior was cream leather with black inserts. Looked very nice indeed.

Regards