Current 320i

Current 320i

Author
Discussion

Skeptisk

Original Poster:

8,241 posts

116 months

Saturday 9th March
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Anyone got a current model 320i? If yes what MPG are you getting? I can see what BMW says it will do but would like to know the reality.

Also - are you happy with it?

Ian Geary

4,734 posts

199 months

Saturday 9th March
quotequote all
Hi,

No direct experience but there are websites that track real world performance

https://www.fuelly.com/car/bmw/320i


Hth

Ian

RayDonovan

4,967 posts

222 months

Saturday 9th March
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Couple of colleagues have this in M Sport and they can easily get 50mpg on a long run at legal limits.

smashy

3,079 posts

165 months

Sunday 10th March
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Hi, I had one as a curtesy car 23 model for a week I have a 2018 F30 335d and could not wait to get back in it. They want over £40k for this. Proving I probably after 18 years will leave the marque,cant see the value anymore in BMW's.Takes you into Top Car Tax as well for an underwhelming car.The engine felt gutless and the ride hard and choppy. As an aside it had black interior and tinted back windows ,all so dark compared to my light interior and sunroof but irrelevant I know. That 320i I would take a test drive before parting with your money.

Court_S

13,851 posts

184 months

Sunday 10th March
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I had a 320i for a week last year…

The B48 was effective but rather gruff, steering was sodding awful (BMW’s EPAS is getting worse with every new generation). Fuel economy was nothing to get excited about. Safety feature like lane assistance were horrible.

The interior was nice and the tech was good on the pre-LCI car I had. It was comfy enough.

Sofa

478 posts

99 months

Sunday 10th March
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My Dad used to have a 330i M-Sport (same engine essentially) and got close to 50mpg once or twice, think his long term average was something like 44mpg. I've driven a couple of 320i's myself and generally had high 30's out of them- although that is driving them in the typical hire car fashion so fairly respectable.

Possibly worth a test drive though, performance is probably just about good enough but if you're used to anything with a decent bit of power the 320i will feel pretty underwhelming. While not amazing I think the steering is perfectly acceptable for what it is, and I've never really had an issue with the ride. Definitely worth setting up a profile and turning off lane assist though (that way it stays off).

Assuming you're looking used, it's possibly worth seeing if you can stretch to a 330i, or at least a 320i with a decent amount of spec (adaptive dampers do help the ride a bit). The 330i won't cost you any more to run in the real world and I've always felt the B48 in that state of tune is a nicer engine. I prefer the pre-LCI interior too as you get more buttons!

Magnum 475

3,650 posts

139 months

Sunday 10th March
quotequote all
Sofa said:
My Dad used to have a 330i M-Sport (same engine essentially) and got close to 50mpg once or twice, think his long term average was something like 44mpg. I've driven a couple of 320i's myself and generally had high 30's out of them- although that is driving them in the typical hire car fashion so fairly respectable.

Possibly worth a test drive though, performance is probably just about good enough but if you're used to anything with a decent bit of power the 320i will feel pretty underwhelming. While not amazing I think the steering is perfectly acceptable for what it is, and I've never really had an issue with the ride. Definitely worth setting up a profile and turning off lane assist though (that way it stays off).

Assuming you're looking used, it's possibly worth seeing if you can stretch to a 330i, or at least a 320i with a decent amount of spec (adaptive dampers do help the ride a bit). The 330i won't cost you any more to run in the real world and I've always felt the B48 in that state of tune is a nicer engine. I prefer the pre-LCI interior too as you get more buttons!
I have the 330i. Same B48 engine with more boost and a few internal tweaks. Average over the last couple of years is around 44mpg, and easily 50ish on a motorway in Eco mode at around 70.

All I’ll add is: don’t run one without factory warranty. They have a habit of creating big repair bills from time to time.

miniman

26,311 posts

269 months

Sunday 10th March
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I had a 420i. Can’t remember the consumption but it wasn’t amazing. Not a terribly punchy engine, needing thrashing to really get moving. Nice enough for cruising on the motorway but I missed the torque of a diesel. 420d was £100/month more.

NelsonM3

1,718 posts

178 months

Sunday 10th March
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Late 30s. Potentially early 40s on a 30-40-50mph B road run.

ToNyC1

79 posts

98 months

Sunday 10th March
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Had one for 4 years. Averaged around 35mpg over the time, did get to high 40s on a run with it in eco pro!

Engine is perfectly fine unless you thrash it a bit, engine isn’t the best sounding engine in the world!