Archive for The Motor Forum talking cars since 2006
 


       The Motor Forum Forum Index -> Test Driven
PR

BMW 320d M Sport

Now online

http://www.themotor.net/index.php...ask=view&id=346&Itemid=32

D.

Superb write-up.

Any thoughts on the new format?
SpecB

The format makes it really easy to read.  Nice write up too.
Giant

Format looks great...but all the text is in hierogliphs (sp?) when I open the page.
D.

It is indeed when on IE.  I'll have a play.  Try looking on Firefox.

Edit:  Sorted.
Giant

Dan wrote:
It is indeed when on IE.  I'll have a play.  Try looking on Firefox.

Edit:  Sorted.


Thanks! I only ever use IE, can you explain the differences between IE, Firefox and Safari etc (in basic English!) please?
SpecB

IE is Microsoft, Firefox is Mozilla and Safari is Apple.  Firefox and Safari can be downloaded free for Windows and they are much faster and generally less buggy than IE.
Matt

Safari is from the same original roots as Firefox, but I hear quite a lot of windows users dislike Safari on that platform, whereas I use it almost exclusively on the Mac with no problems.
Blarno

In short, IE is shitter than a shit thing on shit street. With the shits.

ALF

TWENTY-EIGHT GRAND FOR AN OPTIONS FREE 320D-MSPORT???

"Crikey" just doesn't do that justice!

Great write-up and pics. Does your brother want to take pictures of a nice looking car for a change? I badly need some better pics - ideally in motion - for my next A-J's article and never find time to take them...
PR

More than happy to ask my brother to do pics for the other project I mentioned to you before....  

(Which is still on its way!)
M.

The text issues may be down to some MSword code getting in there. Am I right in thinking you've copied the text from word into the CMS?
PR

I did, yes.
D.

I've managed to get rid of all of it now.
M.

Paste it into a notepad document then paste it into the CMS, that usually gets rid of all the MS rubbish.
D.

I can't believe that the editors of the professional websites have this much trouble putting content onto theirs!
M.

Sometimes you get a paste from Word function which strips the MS code but the best bet is to type plain text into the text area in the first place and let the CSS decide how it looks.
Twelfth Monkey

ALF wrote:
TWENTY-EIGHT GRAND FOR AN OPTIONS FREE 320D-MSPORT???

"Crikey" just doesn't do that justice!

Great write-up and pics.


In reverse order, agreed, indeed and fucking hell.  I suspect that the German triumverate have set their price lists to debag the user-chooser, but even allowing for this, that's still comedy pricing...
Guitar Zero

If you side step the M sport fluff, you can have a 325d SE for £300 less.

And that comes with 17 inch alloys anyway.
Roadrunner

A well written report.

Guitar Zero wrote:
If you side step the M sport fluff, you can have a 325d SE for £300 less.

And that comes with 17 inch alloys anyway.


This would have me side stepping towards chrome grilles very quickly indeed.
Martin

ALF wrote:
TWENTY-EIGHT GRAND FOR AN OPTIONS FREE 320D-MSPORT???

"Crikey" just doesn't do that justice!

Great write-up and pics. Does your brother want to take pictures of a nice looking car for a change? I badly need some better pics - ideally in motion - for my next A-J's article and never find time to take them...


Cough..........Scamper Spec 320D SE  

He would laugh in the face of the poverty spec you must get for 'only' £28k  
Nice Guy Eddie

So you end up spending 30k on a good but hardly pant wettingly good car. It certainly sounds bloody steep and kind of only makes sense if the 2 in the badge was replaced by a 3. Odd that the 520d is now quite a bit cheaper for a lot more car.
Guitar Zero

520d M sport is £30k, although the SE 520d is only £700 more than an SE 320d.

Best thing to do is shit can any 4 cylinder toss and get sixed up with the 325d SE.
PR

Just remember to tick the sports seats option.
PG

I was very interested in your comment about having to change down on the motorway (to 4th - is that right?) to maintain speed and that the sense of speed was never that great. My two driving experiences of the BMW 2 litre diesel motor (both over 3 years ago mind) was that BMW had built a diesel 4 pot that had to be driven like a petrol 6 pot - ie it liked to rev. And whilst that clearly works, in some ways, the "nothing then wow" and "slug it out in any gear" tuning of the VAG diesels almost feels more satisfying to drive in day to day life.

The old shape 520d I drove almost felt like a detuned petrol six if that makes sense? And therefore despite being quick, never felt rewarding. Whereas our A3 with the 1.9Tdi tractor motor fitted, just gets shoved into 6th and goes from 40 to 90+ on the motorway and delivers that "lazy performance" that I expect from a diesel. If I want to have to earn my speed and thrash an engine, I'll buy the petrol version.

Edited to add - and £30k with a couple of options. OMFG. Makes DG's review of the top of the range Sport Premium 2.2 diesel X Type even more interesting. Less money, more FG.
PR

In some instances I did indeed feel it necessary to change down into fourth on the motorway to keep it on the boil. This surprised me as I can't recall driving a modern turbodiesel in which this has been necessary. In fact, driving the Laguna down the M5 the other day, I don't think I changed out of sixth the whole way, because there was ample mumbo available in that gear for seeing off Audi A4s...
Roadrunner

The MG has a detuned version of the same engine (131 bhp) and I find that it is surprisingly happy to rev, by diesel standards, but the auto box does like to change down a cog on motorway inclines.
.

Whereas the Freelander with an even more detuned version of that engine (110bhp I think) doesn't like to be revved.  Might just be the bulk of the Freebie that it struggles to move along mind or the gearbox.
Bob Sacramento

I just can't imagine any parallel universe where I'd shell out £30k for that car. I'm with you on the blandness of the exterior and to be honest the interior doesn't do it for me either.

Still, if that nice man from down the street with the big coat was giving them out instead of puppies I'd have one.
Roadrunner

Torque Junkie wrote:
Whereas the Freelander with an even more detuned version of that engine (110bhp I think) doesn't like to be revved.  Might just be the bulk of the Freebie that it struggles to move along mind or the gearbox.


The (even more) detuned MGs (the 116 versions) don't like to be revved either, but all variants benefit hugely from some stanley knife surgery to the air intake to increase airflow. A common fault with the MG / Rover / L-R fitment of this engine is failure of the crappy standard fit Bosch MAF sensor. Replacement with a new one often opens up new realms of top end revvery.
PR

Bob Sacramento wrote:
I just can't imagine any parallel universe where I'd shell out £30k for that car. I'm with you on the blandness of the exterior and to be honest the interior doesn't do it for me either.

Still, if that nice man from down the street with the big coat was giving them out instead of puppies I'd have one.


LOL.

To be honest, I didn't think much of the interior at first but actually, given decent time behind the wheel, it all just felt so... right. Everything is so well placed and the driving position is about as good as I've ever sat in.
Colin

It damn well ought to feel better than "just so right"......... I still cannot get over the fact that this car is nearly £9000 more expensive than a Mondeo 2.2 TDCi Ghia or Titanium, each in their base spec. If you specced the BMW to match the Ford, I dread to think what the gap is................ I don't doubt that the BMW IS better, and the "it's a BMW", rather than the "it's only a Ford" pride of ownership would doubtless help, but that is such a monumental price gap that must be impossible to justify in rational terms.
Guitar Zero

New Mondeo DW12 2.2 is superb - it would deffo be my 4 cylinder choice.
Roadrunner

Guitar Zero wrote:
New Mondeo DW12 2.2 is superb - it would deffo be my 4 cylinder choice.


Is that the same engine as in the X-Type?
cbeaks1

Roadrunner wrote:
Guitar Zero wrote:
New Mondeo DW12 2.2 is superb - it would deffo be my 4 cylinder choice.


Is that the same engine as in the X-Type?


Nope - its the 170 odd PS one from the coop with PSA.

I've only driven a Galaxy with the 2.2, but the engine seemed great.
Guitar Zero

No - as alluded to by Cbeaks - X-type uses the Puma engine which is now only used in Ford Vans (in varying capacities and tunes) and LR Defenders (2.4 litre 120 ps)

Ford cars use PSA group diesel engines only now (and some puny Fiat rubbish in the new Kak) - although the 1.8 diesel in Focus may still be a development of the original common rail Lynx engine used in Focus Mk1.

DV6 is the 1.6, DW10 is the 2.0 and DW12 is the 2.2
PR

So does the Focus now use different 1.6 and 2.0 diesel engines from those it had at launch?
.

The 1.8TDCi is a development of the early TDDI unit, but has a different head on it, plus a few other bits.  The engine block, im led to understand, is the same.

I assume the names Lynx and Puma are 'inhouse' names as the engine covers on my Foci have all had DuraTorq on them?
Guitar Zero

Quote:
So does the Focus now use different 1.6 and 2.0 diesel engines from those it had at launch?


Mk 2 Focus has always used DV6 and DW10, although the DV6 may not have been available from launch - Mk1 used TDDI and then Lynx.

Anything that comes out of Ford has had a cat name - Lynx, Puma, Lion, etc, etc - they are internal development names - like BMW E numbers (or in fact, like the M and N numbers they use for their engines). IIRC - Ford USA have a V8 diesel called Scorpion.

I suggested we call the new V8 the " Skull fucker deluxe " - sadly there were no takers.
PR

I see.

Guitar Zero wrote:
I suggested we call the new V8 the " Skull fucker deluxe " - sadly there were no takers.


 - these marketing people have no imagination!
Guitar Zero

I know

But we are running out of scary cats - and you can't call an engine " Tiger "
Matt

Imagine being really desperate for cat names and resorting to 'Snow Leopard' like the next version of Mac will be called

I'll stick with Tiger!
DaveGibson

There's always 'Ounce' (a snow leopard) but it doesn't exactly imply the masses of lb-ft that is expected from a diesel.
Rodge

Guitar Zero wrote:
I know

But we are running out of scary cats - and you can't call an engine " Tiger "


Here's an idea:

Why not call the next generation of diesels "Manx".

Once they get into higher revs, they tail off.......
scamper

Nice report Piers - like the "theatre approach" lights - is that official BMW speak? That has impressed several of my friends, usually followed by  "you wanky twat, scamper"!

Apparently the updated engine is a fair bit quicker and makes the 325d redundant, although i never feel as if i need to change down at all.

I drove a new A4 late last year.  It was far far behind the 3 series dynamically.
Dr. Hfuhruhurr

Rodge wrote:
Why not call the next generation of diesels "Manx".

Once they get into higher revs, they tail off.......

       The Motor Forum Forum Index -> Test Driven
Page 1 of 1