[Nickyg]

Hi all,

I've had my 330i SE about 7 months now and as much fun as it is to drive, 26mpg and av.26mph is not quite so much fun!

I am contemplating something more economical. I only drive 13miles to work and 13 back each day, through town and A roads so a lot of stop-start. I don't do much at the weekend either.

I was told diesels will take to long to warm up with this level of driving. So am I best off with a 318i or 320i or will a 320d be fine?

Any advice would be welcome as I am a bit torn whether to change or not!

Cheers in advance
Nick

[willhollin]

Avoid the 318i and 320i if you want to enjoy driving.

[dxb335d]

330d or 335d, it will warm up in 13 miles.

[CraigUK]

Likewise a 320D isn't too economical until warmed through. Could always use a pedal bike, loads of MPG with that and you'll have the plus side of some good exercise

[Kerr]

Is there any point looking at diesels when you are covering such a small distance?

A lot of people seem to buy diesels thinking only about the extra economy.

What they seem to forget is the diesel car is often more expensive than the petrol equivalent and covering short distances makes it pointless in a financial sense.

[willhollin]

Have you considered a Clio?

[dxb335d]

Originally Posted by Kerr

Is there any point looking at diesels when you are covering such a small distance?

A lot of people seem to buy diesels thinking only about the extra economy.

What they seem to forget is the diesel car is often more expensive than the petrol equivalent and covering short distances makes it pointless in a financial sense.

I couldn't give a flying fuck for economy. I just loved the power and torque of the BIG D

[Kerr]

Originally Posted by dxb335d

I couldn't give a flying fuck for economy. I just loved the power and torque of the BIG D

It was not a dig at the car or diesels, just by the time he trades his current car in and buys another it will hardly save any more long term given the small mileage.

[m@rk]

Originally Posted by Kerr

It was not a dig at the car or diesels, just by the time he trades his current car in and buys another it will hardly save any more long term given the small mileage.

Well assuming he gets from 26mpg up to say 50mpg then even then his annual saving will still be less than £650 per year.

So unless you can get into the new car that does 50mpg for less than £650 then you won't save any money.

BTW

26 mpg
26 mph
26 miles per day

Voodoo

[ALF_E90]

I get to see the mpg of mine and my colleague's cars online and the diesels seem amazingly good on long runs but poor on short ones. Since, bizarrely, everyone seems to want one these days they cost a lot more second hand so real savings seem unlikely, especially if you factor in long-term running costs.

If this is all the driving you do, why have a 330 at all, unless you enjoy wringing out the 6 so much that you don't care about mpg? I'd be looking at a smaller car if economy was a concern, not just a smaller engine.

Out of interest, is yours an efficient dynamics model? It's impossible to say what I'd get without doing the exact same drive but I'm really happy with the mpg of my (ED) 330.

[briers]

I dont know if smaller engines are the way to go.

My commute is pretty dull, a-roads and a bit of town, avg. speed showing as 31mph and not going much above 50mph in traffic.

At this speed the 335d is very un-stressed and gives me 42mpg over the tank, 18 miles each way, daily. I've driven 2.0ltr diesels that didn't even achieve that.

The 330d is a wonderful blend of economy and power however for such a short trip it can't be costing that much a month, just stick with the 330i. It's a lovely engine!

[nik_nak]

I do 13 miles each way per day, A roads stop starting etc and get 35mpg out of my 330d, worth it when I go on a decent run or need to floor it

[wayne71]

My other half has an 07 clio 1.4 16v, slow as fk and does less mpg than the 335d.

I'd stick with what you have or get a a 335d, remap it and get more mpg and more smiles. Although you will miss that sound.

[RockIt]

Originally Posted by ALF_E90

If this is all the driving you do, why have a 330 at all, unless you enjoy wringing out the 6 so much that you don't care about mpg? I'd be looking at a smaller car if economy was a concern, not just a smaller engine.

I only used to do 12 miles both ways in my 330i and averaged a piss poor 17mpg. With such low mileage for work however, I could afford to enjoy it at evenings and weekends! Same with the TTS. Not too good during the week, but bloody fantastic to have fun in. Then there's the feel good factor to take into account. I'd rather spend a bit more and arrive in a car I want to be in, than drive to work in a supermini because it's economical!

[Irnbrukid]

Whats the TTS averaging on the commute??

[MEGA]

Colleague has a TT 2.0 TFSI and gets about 33 on the commute. Just the same as me in the 320d when I choose to drive the way they do.

usually I get about 24.

[F31-340i]

IMO, if you're only doing 13 miles and its stop start, a 330d will only give 35ish mpg - and hence not really worth it to change. 26 mpg is on the low side but IMO not low enough to force a change. If you were buying from scratch, then a 330/5d maybe the way to go, but as you already have a 330i I'd enjoy it for now - straight six petrols of that calibre could be fond memories in 10 years time when the govt is squeezing everyone into 3 cylinder 50g/km eco-boxes.

[RockIt]

Originally Posted by Irnbrukid

Whats the TTS averaging on the commute??

On my very short crawl in heavy traffic over 6 miles averaging 25 mph...my daily commute... I rarely see beyond 18. On a reasonable town and motorway trip of 15 miles it rises to about 25. A longer motorway and A road jaunt returns around 30. Very dependent on how long and hard I stay on boost!

[kdiz]

Originally Posted by Kerr

It was not a dig at the car or diesels, just by the time he trades his current car in and buys another it will hardly save any more long term given the small mileage.

Also very true, I see a lot of people trading in for diesels then the money they lose from buying a new or nearly new car would be equal to like 5+ years of petrol money. I feel like the majority of diesel owners buy them under the facade they are cheaper but after you factoring in trading in / losing more from depreciation they aren’t.


Maybe these calculations will help you (Just an example, I think they are correct lol)

Petrol

26 miles
20 mpg
4.54 litres per gallon

= 26 / 20 * 4.54
= 5.9 litres burnt
= £1.29 per lite
= 5.9 * 1.29
= £7.61


Diesel

26 miles
35 mpg
4.54 litres per gallon

= 26 / 35 * 4.54
= 3.37 litres burnt
= £1.33 per litre
= 3.37 * 1.33
= £4.48

(312 days if you work 5 days a week every week)

312 days * 7.61
= £2374.32

312 days * 4.48
= £1397.76


Price difference

£976.56

[kaishang]

Forget changing for fuel economy. The 330i is what BMWs are all about if fuel economy is not your no 1 concern.

Even is fuel economy is a big concern then small petrols don't use that much less fuel and diesels take a long while to warm up.

Diesels are not a panacea for traffic either. While I can get 43mpg on the motorway I can also get 16mpg in London traffic.

[Kerr]

I can remember a few years ago Quentin Wilson did a side by side comparison of various cars putting the diesel and petrol versions head to head.

The BMW 330 models were compared and it ended up you have to cover(from memory) about 100,000 for the the diesel to work out cheaper and start making a difference.

I think diesel cars were a little more expensive back then and also residual values will probably be better now too.

However diesel used to be a good bit cheaper than petrol which obviously it no longer is.

Over the last few years diesel has steadily increased in price over petrol. With diesel cars getting more and more popular and with more demand, it seems even more Americans are thinking down the diesel route, this will in the next few years push the price of diesel far higher than petrol?

I can't remember where I read it but even though you get more diesel than petrol from crude oil, more diesel has to be brought into the UK hence why the price has gone up more than petrol.

If the Americans buy into diesel then demand will grow and possibly force our prices up higher for diesel.

[G82Dude]

It would be pointless to move to another engined car to save a few pennies for such a small distance. If it's a problem for you, get a Toyota IQ or some other small engined car!

What's your car for? Economy? Enjoyment? Status?