The end of the world...

[Ferrer]

Yes the time has come. This is the end of the world as we know it. Because I'm driving a diesel.

It's a brand new BMW 118d 3 door which we collected yesterday. And after having done 200km or so with the car here are the first impressions.

First of all it strikes me the quietness and smothness for a diesel I found those quite amazing. Especially when all of my previous diesel experience was with pumpe duse (or however they call it) VAG diesels. However don't be fooled by those people who say "you can't tell it's a diesel!" because you can but it's true that the progress which has been made in like 10 years is amazing.

Comfort is another aspect where this car scores highly especially if you compare it to the good ol' Mini (altough probably even bed of nails would be more comfortable than it). Ride is quite more compliant and the noise is much reduced especially at motorway speeds thanks to the long gear ratios. That means sixth is only effective above 100km/h, but that's ok.

Performance is adequate not outstanding but not bad either. It's delivered very diferently from the Mini, though. In the Mini putting your foot down was an event, even in sixth, accompained by the growl of the exhaust and the whine of the superchager. In this everything is much more sedate and constant. There's no drama, you gain speed without almost noticing it. And you can't really argue with the fuel consumption. We averaged 6,2l/100km over 200km of motorway at an average speed of about 140km/h.

But it's perfect the excitement, pasion and charisma the Mini had is somewhat lacking. Yes it's very effective and efficient but it lacks that extra something makes us love cars. Oh and the start-stop system, very clever indeed but a bit annoying once the novelty has passed and not exactly smooth when starting up again.

Two things to end, first the only pic I have is that awful thing taken with my phone in which you can see almost nothing, I promise better pictures as soon as I can. And finally I haven't commented on the handling because I didn't have the opportunity to drive on twisty roads. I'll tell you what I think about it once I've had the opportunity to drive it on country roads.

[NSXType-R]

Cool purchase!

What's the fuel consumption converted to MPG? I gotta learn how to do that.

Any chance that these cars will come to the states? I know that the coupe will come, but will the hatches?

[henk4]

welcome to the new world...

[baddabang]

Nice, congrats on the purchase.

[Clivey]

Nice one Albert! What's the trim level / specification like?

[Waugh-terfall]

looks like an ES to me.
Sounds pretty cool Albert. My cousin's about to swap her '97 Fiesta 1.25 for an '04 Z4 2.2i. Did you use the Mini as Part Exchange or did that go privately?

[Ferrer]

Originally Posted by NSXType-R

Cool purchase!

What's the fuel consumption converted to MPG? I gotta learn how to do that.

Any chance that these cars will come to the states? I know that the coupe will come, but will the hatches?

85mph, 46mpg UK and 39mpg US.

Originally Posted by henk4

welcome to the new world...

Any advice form our resident diesel expert?

Originally Posted by Clivey

Nice one Albert! What's the trim level / specification like?

Originally Posted by Waugh-terfall

looks like an SE to me.
Sounds pretty cool Albert. My cousin's about to swap her '97 Fiesta 1.25 for an '04 Z4 2.2i. Did you use the Mini as Part Exchange or did that go privately?

We have no trim levels here. But it doesn't have sports suspension or big wheels (16" alloys, 195/55) so I guess that it resembles UK's SE spec most. It's mostly standard except for the Xenons, color coded exterior trim and the alloys.

An we sold the Mini privately because the BMW dealer didn't offer anywhere near enough compared to the 2nd hand market.

[NSXType-R]

Originally Posted by Ferrer

85mph, 46mpg UK and 39mpg US.

That's not bad. How come the US and UK mpgs are vastly different?

[P3RG4R3C]

Different gallons maybe?

[henk4]

Originally Posted by Ferrer

Any advice form our resident diesel expert?

in Dutch, but I think the message is clear. (but useful only after expiring of the engine warranty

Chiptuning Bmw 118 D 122pk - Klaar terwijl U Wacht !

[fisetdavid26]

Originally Posted by NSXType-R

That's not bad. How come the US and UK mpgs are vastly different?

United States = U.S. liquid gallon = 3.785411784 litres
United Kingdom = Imperial gallon = 4.54609 litres

[henk4]

Originally Posted by fisetdavid26

United States = U.S. liquid gallon = 3.785411784 litres
United Kingdom = Imperial gallon = 4.54609 litres

the blessings of going metric are once more soooo evident....

[fisetdavid26]

Originally Posted by henk4

the blessings of going metric are once more soooo evident....

Using metric units everyday, I agree. But why going the simple way when you can go the complicated way?

[digitalcraft]

Originally Posted by fisetdavid26

Using metric units everyday, I agree. But why going the simple way when you can go the complicated way?

Because we aint no commie europeans, gal durnit! Git out a here with yer metric system!

[NSXType-R]

Originally Posted by fisetdavid26

United States = U.S. liquid gallon = 3.785411784 litres
United Kingdom = Imperial gallon = 4.54609 litres

Ugh, I hate the USA.