BMW 123D - advice on what they are like
Discussion
gareth h said:
Economical 45-50mpg, decent handling if you ditch the runflats, tuneable 270bhp from a remap.
Just beware of camchains, although mine was sorted on a recall.
I had run flats on my Mini, Sold them and bought normal tyres. That sounds good that you can get 270bhp out of it, so more like a 130i when tuned, minus the noise lolJust beware of camchains, although mine was sorted on a recall.
Any other mechanical issues to look out for?
Auto box is good, does take maybe 10 mins or so to warm up properly.
If you have a heavy foot like myself expect 35-38mpg.
Can be relatively crashy although non-RFT helps massively.
Tuneable - thought make sure to go with someone reputable like Ecotune or Chiptune
Really planted on the road and feel great when pushing on
Quite spec dependant imo
Engine does sound like a chainsaw tbh - no helping it, N47 engines just aren't great in this regard
Great seating position
Solid build quality even though it's at the bottom of the range really
Steering is somewhat vague as it is electric, especially mid corner imo
All-in-all, a great fun, compact, economical, great looking car. A lot more exciting to drive like the equivalent hatch imo. Few minor niggles but you can't ever have it all can you. If you don't do high miles maybe a 125i would be a better shout. Also, get an E82 if you can.
If you have a heavy foot like myself expect 35-38mpg.
Can be relatively crashy although non-RFT helps massively.
Tuneable - thought make sure to go with someone reputable like Ecotune or Chiptune
Really planted on the road and feel great when pushing on
Quite spec dependant imo
Engine does sound like a chainsaw tbh - no helping it, N47 engines just aren't great in this regard
Great seating position
Solid build quality even though it's at the bottom of the range really
Steering is somewhat vague as it is electric, especially mid corner imo
All-in-all, a great fun, compact, economical, great looking car. A lot more exciting to drive like the equivalent hatch imo. Few minor niggles but you can't ever have it all can you. If you don't do high miles maybe a 125i would be a better shout. Also, get an E82 if you can.
Joratk said:
Auto box is good, does take maybe 10 mins or so to warm up properly.
If you have a heavy foot like myself expect 35-38mpg.
Can be relatively crashy although non-RFT helps massively.
Tuneable - thought make sure to go with someone reputable like Ecotune or Chiptune
Really planted on the road and feel great when pushing on
Quite spec dependant imo
Engine does sound like a chainsaw tbh - no helping it, N47 engines just aren't great in this regard
Steering is somewhat vague as it is electric, especially mid corner imo
All-in-all, a great fun, compact, economical, great looking car. A lot more exciting to drive like the equivalent hatch imo. Get an E82 if you can
Thanks for that, the ones I have look at are manual, might try and auto as I have never driven an auto before. The specs I have looked at are M Sport, I have been looking at the Coupe ones, but I have seen some nice hatchback ones.If you have a heavy foot like myself expect 35-38mpg.
Can be relatively crashy although non-RFT helps massively.
Tuneable - thought make sure to go with someone reputable like Ecotune or Chiptune
Really planted on the road and feel great when pushing on
Quite spec dependant imo
Engine does sound like a chainsaw tbh - no helping it, N47 engines just aren't great in this regard
Steering is somewhat vague as it is electric, especially mid corner imo
All-in-all, a great fun, compact, economical, great looking car. A lot more exciting to drive like the equivalent hatch imo. Get an E82 if you can
Definitely give the auto box a try. Especially the one with paddles over buttons. Really fun feeling when pushing on, but can leave it in full auto for traffic which takes a lot of work out of it. BMW aren't exactly renowned for having a good manual change anyway. E82 123D M Sport - can't really go wrong, will be lots of fun. Think 2010 cars onward are a lot more reliable in terms of the tensioners. 08 being a bad year for it, i'd check to see if it's had them done or any recalls before buying one from that model year. Services every 8-10k miles seems to stop a lot of the problems too.
Joratk said:
Definitely give the auto box a try. Especially the one with paddles over buttons. Really fun feeling when pushing on, but can leave it in full auto for traffic which takes a lot of work out of it. BMW aren't exactly renowned for having a good manual change anyway. E82 123D M Sport - can't really go wrong, will be lots of fun. Think 2010 cars onward are a lot more reliable in terms of the tensioners. 08 being a bad year for it, i'd check to see if it's had them done or any recalls before buying one from that model year. Services every 8-10k miles seems to stop a lot of the problems too.
Looked at a 125i but due to a change in job, it would make more sense to go for the dieselThey don't survive a high speed impact with a Saab very well!
When some plonker tried to drive through the side of mine at 50mph he basically reduced the length of his car by 40%.
Mind you, he did get out of it relatively unscathed so nice to know that you will be well protected if you drive like a wally in it!
When some plonker tried to drive through the side of mine at 50mph he basically reduced the length of his car by 40%.
Mind you, he did get out of it relatively unscathed so nice to know that you will be well protected if you drive like a wally in it!
NickdeBug said:
They don't survive a high speed impact with a Saab very well!
When some plonker tried to drive through the side of mine at 50mph he basically reduced the length of his car by 40%.
Mind you, he did get out of it relatively unscathed so nice to know that you will be well protected if you drive like a wally in it!
Thats nice to know!When some plonker tried to drive through the side of mine at 50mph he basically reduced the length of his car by 40%.
Mind you, he did get out of it relatively unscathed so nice to know that you will be well protected if you drive like a wally in it!
I ran an E87 120d for a couple of years (bought at 3 years old). I thought the manual 6 speed gearbox was pretty good with a nice accurate and short shift, although the car did suffer a bit of clutch judder at slow speed when cold. I believe that's par for the course and it was never bad enough to warrant a trip to the dealer. I kept the runflats on mine (they just never wore out) and they provided good grip and feel and were certainly a world away from the reputation they seem to have.
Only real concern for me was the timing chain issues but I didn't encounter them during my ownership so maybe I was lucky and my car was problem free, or maybe the next owner got bitten.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_N47#Timing_chain...
Chris
Only real concern for me was the timing chain issues but I didn't encounter them during my ownership so maybe I was lucky and my car was problem free, or maybe the next owner got bitten.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_N47#Timing_chain...
Chris
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