320i vs 320d

Timooo_23

Hey guys, trying to make up my mind lately between the two. I'd like an e90 with decent spec, but can't decide which engine.

I like petrol more myself, I know the diesel will have DPF and DMF issues, but I want the driving experience. It seems the diesel has more power, more torque, better economy and drives just as well.

Reliability wise, which is better? (I know Beemers aren't great as a whole, but anyway)

My commute is about 65km round trip a day, 15mins in a city, 15mins on motorway. On a weekend I might drive 30km around country roads.

I have about 6k to spend, so a 05 or 06.

Any thoughts/ advice?

YbFocus

Not enough mileage to warrant a diesel in my opinion, especially when half it is done in the city.

Big Nasty

YbFocus wrote: »

Not enough mileage to warrant a diesel in my opinion, especially when half it is done in the city.

20,000km not enough to warrant a diesel?

Generally speaking the petrol will be more reliable OP. The diesel has more parts hence more to go wrong.

YbFocus

Big Nasty wrote: »

20,000km not enough to warrant a diesel?

Generally speaking the petrol will be more reliable OP. The diesel has more parts hence more to go wrong.

Didn't think it'd work out that high
Still though he's not far over the said threshold, I'd take the petrol all day!

Stallingrad

Pre LCI 320i should be OK, after 2008 I think they were plagued with coil pack failures?

renofan

My father has a 2006 320i since 2007 and currently has 158,000 miles on it. It's been fine except for the viscous fan and ABS unit needed changing (which is a common problem on them but is now a cheap enough fix).

Caliden

Big Nasty wrote: »

20,000km not enough to warrant a diesel?

Generally speaking the petrol will be more reliable OP. The diesel has more parts hence more to go wrong.

If it's city it's going to be mainly stop/start.

Purely anecdotal but I drove a similar type route (50% stop/start, 50% motorway) in a 120d and 1.2l fiesta. The diesel got ~32mpg over the course of 4 months while the petrol held a steady ~40mpg over 3 months.

The stop/starting wrecks any sort of economy and the petrol itself was an overall nicer car to drive due to turbo lag in the diesel.


My personal opinion OP, is that I wouldn't get too hung up on economy and look at maintenance/reliability as other posters (and the quoted posted) have said.

hi_im_fil

The mileage in the OP works out at ~18,500 km per annum (approx 11,500 miles). I thought you'd want to be doing well over 15,000 miles to make diesel make sense when you take into account the ongoing costs of keeping a diesel car on the road? What is the general accepted changeover when diesel is seen as a better option?

YbFocus

hi_im_fil wrote: »

The mileage in the OP works out at ~18,500 km per annum (approx 11,500 miles). I thought you'd want to be doing well over 15,000 miles to make diesel make sense when you take into account the ongoing costs of keeping a diesel car on the road? What is the general accepted changeover when diesel is seen as a better option?

Would have said 15,000 is the cutoff.

bazz26

It's the type of driving. Constant stop/start short journeys have more of a decremental impact on diesel cars, they are also not that frugal as a diesel engine takes longer to warn up. A good mixture of city and motorway driving should be fine for a diesel.

The only thing is that with cars of this age a diesel model is bound to have more mileage and wear on it so more serviceable items may need replacing alot sooner than a lower mileage petrol model.

Pkiernan

The 320d is a real dirty pig of an engine. I'd being going petrol in your situation.

keno-daytrader

The 320i will also be less expensive to purchase than the 320d, and plz plz do yourself a favor and make sure to get an msport. The paddy spec se or es 320 is pretty bare on features.

Timooo_23

I do plan on getting a good spec, I can't stand paddy spec cars. i was thinking that I don't do enough miles to warrant a diesel. the only thing putting the diesel into my head is the bump in 20hp and oceans more torque. I have driven both and have to say as diesels go, BMW seem to have it down. I love revving cars. So that's putting me back to petrol. Economy is by no means a priority for me. It just seems hard to argue with if you have more power AND economy.