Diesel Saloon / Hatchback - Recommendations?

Jimmy Bottlehead

Hey all.

I'm only considering the idea, but I'm trying to get a feel for what options are out there if I decide to trade the S2000 over the next wee while.

I'm probably going to switch to diesel as my mileage is about 15-17k a year.

I'd like the following if possible: Fun drive, poke, reliable, economical, nice to look at.

Off the top of my head, I'd imagine the options are the likes of the Honda Accord, BMW 320D, Mazda 6... but I'm not sure how they all stack up.

If you can give any advice, experience or recommendations, it'd be great
Thanks!

Chuck_Norris

Jimmy Bottlehead wrote: »

Hey all.

I'm only considering the idea, but I'm trying to get a feel for what options are out there if I decide to trade the S2000 over the next wee while.

I'm probably going to switch to diesel as my mileage is about 15-17k a year.

I'd like the following if possible: Fun drive, poke, reliable, economical, nice to look at.

Off the top of my head, I'd imagine the options are the likes of the Honda Accord, BMW 320D, Mazda 6... but I'm not sure how they all stack up.

If you can give any advice, experience or recommendations, it'd be great
Thanks!

I'll be the first in with it......Octavia vRS!!!

Faster, more powerful and wait for it........a bigger boot than the S2K!!

All joking aside though, sorry to hear you may be getting rid of it. I was over with Joe Power the day you were having Urban Performance checking it over. Cracking car.

Jimmy Bottlehead

Chuck_Norris wrote: »

I'll be the first in with it......Octavia vRS!!!

Faster, more powerful and wait for it........a bigger boot than the S2K!!

All joking aside though, sorry to hear you may be getting rid of it. I was over with Joe Power the day you were having Urban Performance checking it over. Cracking car.

Haha, no joke, my father recommended an Octavia! :P

But cheers... still not definite on what's happening, but I'm trying to get all my options together.

Tea 1000

Octavia is a big comedown in terms of driving experience from the S2000. All diesels are to be fair. How about a 535d or better, a 335d? Or maybe a 330d?
Failing that, the Subaru Legacy is a nice car to drive, Mazda 6 Z-Sport if you can get one would be decent, and the Accord came in a 180bhp version in the UK. The Accord is nice and refined, better chassis than the VRS but wouldn't be as good as the Mazda.

Jimmy Bottlehead

Tea 1000 wrote: »

Octavia is a big comedown in terms of driving experience from the S2000. All diesels are to be fair. How about a 535d or better, a 335d? Or maybe a 330d?
Failing that, the Subaru Legacy is a nice car to drive, Mazda 6 Z-Sport if you can get one would be decent, and the Accord came in a 180bhp version in the UK. The Accord is nice and refined, better chassis than the VRS but wouldn't be as good as the Mazda.

I'm not really considering an Octavia... if I'm coming from the S2k I want it to be as painless as possible, so something decently nippy while very comfy should keep me kinda happy.

I'd prefer to avoid huge tax too, just for any recommendations... is it bad with the bigger engined BMW's post-2008?

Tea 1000

Jimmy Bottlehead wrote: »

I'm not really considering an Octavia... if I'm coming from the S2k I want it to be as painless as possible, so something decently nippy while very comfy should keep me kinda happy.

I'd prefer to avoid huge tax too, just for any recommendations... is it bad with the bigger engined BMW's post-2008?

Around band D at the highest I think, so less than 500. Lower bands in newer models.

Viper_JB

Jimmy Bottlehead wrote: »

I'm not really considering an Octavia... if I'm coming from the S2k I want it to be as painless as possible, so something decently nippy while very comfy should keep me kinda happy.

I'd prefer to avoid huge tax too, just for any recommendations... is it bad with the bigger engined BMW's post-2008?

Not really it's about 600ish for the 535D post 2008 however there can be anywhere up to a 10k difference in price between a 2007 and 2008 model....that buys a lot of tax.

Just checked 677 for the 535 same for the E60 530D, drops to 481 for the F10 530 and 535D though.

Idbatterim

what is your budget OP?

Jimmy Bottlehead

Anything up to €13-14k

bazz26

You would struggle to get a decent 2008 520d on that budget not to mind a 535d. Anything on the lower tax system will still fetch strong money.

How about a Saab 9-3 twin turbo - 180bhp:

http://www.driving.ie/used-cars/Saab/9-3/1.9-TTID/201239210179890/

MetzgerMeister

If you have that kind of a budget to buy a new car, why don't you just hold on to the S2K???

If not, a 325d might be a goer for you. Bazz is right, the cheapest 335d on carzone is 22,000 but you can get a 335i for 16,000

I think a 320d coupe would be the right car for you coming from the S2K but the E92 model seems to be hard to come by. A few saloons:

http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/3-Series/320D-M-S/201242210555039/advert?channel=CARS

http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/3-Series/320D-E90/201225208797543/advert?channel=CARS

http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/3-Series/320d-SE-/201223208523667/advert?channel=CARS

colm_mcm

Civic 2.2 ES would be worth a look

markoire

Take a look at the 123d OP. Pretty rare on these shores but you should get one within budget from the UK!! Should be pretty quick. Alpina D3 should come in within budget as well. Both of those would be on my list if I were going from having an s2000 as a daily!!

Gary ITR

Ah dude your S2000 is one of the best I've ever seen, keep it and stop being a big girl

166man

Gary ITR wrote: »

Ah dude your S2000 is one of the best I've ever seen, keep it and stop being a big girl

As nice a car as it is, I wouldn't fancy 25k km a year in one. A nice straight six diesel would be nearly preferable I think.

The other option is to take the S2K off the road for winter and buy a winter hack and drive it six months of the year. A nice 406 HDI for €2k and run it to the ground would be what I would have. Keep the rest of the funds and buy petrol and tax.

Idbatterim

what you think of the below op?

http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/3-Series/320-D-FU/20313413043018990/advert?channel=CARS

with remap, goes up to 215bhp, sub 7 second car after remap i reckon...

http://www.dmsautomotive.com/models.asp?upid=1

alfa beta

how about an Alfa 159 JTD 2.4litre

(ok I'm an Alfa fan and I'm already missing my lovely old 1999 GTV that just got driven away by its new owner earlier today....but stlll like....!!)

166man

Actually fcuk my previous suggestion, this is what you want, alfa beta was right

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201231480427711/sort/priceasc/usedcars/maximum-age/up_to_4_years_old/fuel-type/diesel/engine-size-cars/2l_to_2-5l/model/159/make/alfa_romeo/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/postcode/sw1a0aa/page/1/radius/1500?logcode=p



:cool:

Idbatterim

2.4L Alfa

Fuel consumption (urban) 30.7 mpg
Fuel consumption (extra urban) 52.3 mpg
Fuel consumption (combined) 41.5 mpg
0 - 62 mph 8.1 seconds
Top speed 144 mph
Cylinders 5
Valves 20 v
Engine power 210 bhp
Engine torque 295 lbs/ft

2L 320d bmw

Fuel consumption (urban) 47.1 mpg
Fuel consumption (extra urban) 68.9 mpg
Fuel consumption (combined) 58.9 mpg
0 - 62 mph 7.9 seconds
Top speed 143 mph
Cylinders 4
Valves 16 v
Engine power 177 bhp
Engine torque 258 lbs/ft

Tigger

with that money an alfa 159 2.4 jtd

Tigger

i drivde a 155 mondeo with exhaust intercooler and remap
it does 51mpg and nearly 200bhp



half the money

166man

Idbatterim wrote: »

2.4L Alfa

Fuel consumption (urban) 30.7 mpg
Fuel consumption (extra urban) 52.3 mpg
Fuel consumption (combined) 41.5 mpg
0 - 62 mph 8.1 seconds
Top speed 144 mph
Cylinders 5
Valves 20 v
Engine power 210 bhp
Engine torque 295 lbs/ft

2L 320d bmw

Fuel consumption (urban) 47.1 mpg
Fuel consumption (extra urban) 68.9 mpg
Fuel consumption (combined) 58.9 mpg
0 - 62 mph 7.9 seconds
Top speed 143 mph
Cylinders 4
Valves 16 v
Engine power 177 bhp
Engine torque 258 lbs/ft

Still take the Alfa....:pac:

dgt

I'd rather have the 5 cylinder too :cool:

Jimmy Bottlehead

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

If you have that kind of a budget to buy a new car, why don't you just hold on to the S2K???

If not, a 325d might be a goer for you. Bazz is right, the cheapest 335d on carzone is 22,000 but you can get a 335i for 16,000

I think a 320d coupe would be the right car for you coming from the S2K but the E92 model seems to be hard to come by. A few saloons:

http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/3-Series/320D-M-S/201242210555039/advert?channel=CARS

http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/3-Series/320D-E90/201225208797543/advert?channel=CARS

http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/3-Series/320d-SE-/201223208523667/advert?channel=CARS

As a daily driver with a long commute, the fuel bills are very very heavy - I'm spending about €300 on petrol a month alone, so I know that a move to diesel would help a lot with that... and it'd be justified.

The budget is including the trade-in price, obviously!

Gary ITR wrote: »

Ah dude your S2000 is one of the best I've ever seen, keep it and stop being a big girl

Believe me I know! That's why I'm not jumping at the thought of trading her... but it's worth checking out before making a decision

166man wrote: »

As nice a car as it is, I wouldn't fancy 25k km a year in one. A nice straight six diesel would be nearly preferable I think.

The other option is to take the S2K off the road for winter and buy a winter hack and drive it six months of the year. A nice 406 HDI for €2k and run it to the ground would be what I would have. Keep the rest of the funds and buy petrol and tax.

That's the other option... hibernate the S2k and buy a cheap runaround. It's the more appealing option too, to be honest

On the Alfa suggestion, for some reason I've never liked the look of them... I'd definitely take a BMW over it. Sorry guys

Viper_JB

Ahem....could be worth a look, although I'm not too sure how much car you'd get for that kinda money...

http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/5-Series/535-535D/31913497973072860/advert?channel=CARS
http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/5-Series/535d-SE-/29613464903633780/advert?channel=CARS

(and one's an SE so that's probably out)

Jimmy Bottlehead

Viper_JB wrote: »

Ahem....could be worth a look, although I'm not too sure how much car you'd get for that kinda money...

http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/5-Series/535-535D/31913497973072860/advert?channel=CARS
http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/5-Series/535d-SE-/29613464903633780/advert?channel=CARS

(and one's an SE so that's probably out)

Nice cars, but I'm hoping to not get hammered on tax, so I'll probably aim for post-2008 tax rates.

Viper_JB

Jimmy Bottlehead wrote: »

Nice cars, but I'm hoping to not get hammered on tax, so I'll probably aim for post-2008 tax rates.

Ya understandable, the tax does suck alright but for me over the year I worked it out as of being about the same as the RX8 between fuel and Tax except doing about twice the milage in the 5 series. There's a premium added to the post 2008 car so they can get more expensive then the tax difference is worth.

Jimmy Bottlehead

Viper_JB wrote: »

Ya understandable, the tax does suck alright but for me over the year I worked it out as of being about the same as the RX8 between fuel and Tax except doing about twice the milage in the 5 series. There's a premium added to the post 2008 car so they can get more expensive then the tax difference is worth.

True, but I'd still like to aim for 2008 anyways

I'm definitely siding with the 320d and Accord so far...

Tea 1000

Without doubt keep S2000 and buy a runaround. QED, thread closed.

Stallingrad

Jimmy Bottlehead wrote: »

True, but I'd still like to aim for 2008 anyways

I'm definitely siding with the 320d and Accord so far...

Do you homework on the post 2008 320D and timing chain issues.

Jimmy Bottlehead

Stallingrad wrote: »

Do you homework on the post 2008 320D and timing chain issues.

If you'd like to give me the short version, I'd appreciate it!

Tea 1000

Jimmy Bottlehead wrote: »

If you'd like to give me the short version, I'd appreciate it!

I think it's something like they break and engine must come out to replace!

Viper_JB

Tea 1000 wrote: »

I think it's something like they break and engine must come out to replace!

It's the N47 engine specifically, are pretty much notorious for it which is the current revision of the BMW 2 litre diesel I think, not too sure if it's different for the most recient ones though. Your best bet is run a google for N47 timing chain failures, you'll see lots of results, there's been a few discussions on here about it too. I think it's one of the mount points for the timing chain comes lose and basically wrecks your engine.

bazz26

The issue is with the 177bhp version, it was resolved in the 184bhp version which appeared in the F10. I would not touch an E60 520d after mid 2007.

Viper_JB

bazz26 wrote: »

The issue is with the 177bhp version, it was resolved in the 184bhp version which appeared in the F10. I would not touch an E60 520d after mid 2007.

Ya or the equivalent 320D with the 177bhp engine, not worth the risk.

Idbatterim

If you had a 320 or 520d and got stung with this problem, what would the repair cost be?

Viper_JB

Idbatterim wrote: »

If you had a 320 or 520d and got stung with this problem, what would the repair cost be?

Have heard about £3000-4000 which would probably be anywhere up to €7000 when it comes to the Irish stealers.

bazz26

To fix the problem properly your talking about €5k afaik. It's an engine and gearbox out job and our German geniuses decided to put the timing chain at the back end of the engine which is up against the bulk head. The crankshaft also has to be replaced or the problem will eventually happen again.

bazz26

Some light reading here:

http://www.bmwland.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=132744

Of course BMW stick their heads in the sand.