German Car Zone

Test by AutoZeitung:

Modell ……….. 320d …. C220CDI .. 9-3 1.9TTiD ….. RS 2.0TDI
Body ……........ 684 ….….. 712 …….... 663 …………… 704
Comfort ………. 728 ……… 742 ……..… 695 …………… 687
Driveline …….. 728 ……… 694 ….….… 682 ……….…. 703
Driving ……….. 619 ………. 604 ……… 568 ……….…… 602
Cost …………... 405 ………. 389 …….… 394 …….……… 445
Total ………... 3 164 …….. 3 141 …… 3 002 ………… 3 141

Weight ……... 1600 …….. 1680 …….. 1660 ………… 1500
0-100km/h …… 8,3 ……... 8,4 ………. 9,0 …………… 8,3
Slalom (km/h) . 62,8 …… 61,3 …... 60,8 …….…. 61,7
Lap time …..… 1:53,4 ….. 1:55,7 …. 1:55,3 …… 1:53,4
Consumtion ….. 6,4 …….... 7,9 ……… 7,5 ………… 7,1
Hp ……….....…… 177 …….. 170 ……… 180 ………… 170
Nm ………....….. 350 ……… 400 …….. 400 ………… 350

Test results:
1. BMW 320d touring – 3 164 points
2. Mercedes V220CDI T – 3 141 points
2. Skoda Octavia RS 2.9TDI – 3 141 points
4. Saab 9-3 SportCombi 1.9 TTiD – 3 002 points

2.0 liter BMW diesel engine= marvelous.
Look at how much lower the consumption is compared to the others.

Intresting that my petrol babybimmer drink less fuel than a diesel Benz

Give me the skoda. It looks really cool, performs well and is nice to the pocket. Plus not every man and his dog has one like with the BMW in my country.

You know what, out of this bunch I'd probably go for the Skoda too - the price/value for money advantage it has over the Merc and the Bimmer is too hard to ignore.

I've been meaning to bring that up...

The fuel consumption of my sister's 118i is absolutely horrible. For 100 km we generally get 9-10 L - far off from what BMW claims this thing is supposed to consume. Just last Thursday I drove my neighbour to Wels, Austria which is about 139 km from my town. The fuel tank was on full. I used country roads and NO AUTOBAHNS, drove completely normal and relaxed and when I drove us back to my town the fuel tank was half full. I kid you not.

Heck our E320, which is heavier, more powerful and has only a 5-speed automatic is more fuel efficient.

Any idea what's wrong here? My dad is pretty pissed about this.

What???? I can't believe what I read!!!!

I'm sorry to hear that - the fuel consumption of your sisters 1-series is as bad as the consumption of our Scenic 2.0...
...maybe it's because of the 6 speed automatic or many city driving???! I have absolutely no idea - but you could give it back to the dealer because of the bad consumption!
Buy a Saab 9-3 - in my opinion it's better looking anyway.

So, have to do sth. for university again...

Yeah, the fuel economy of this car is pretty bad. The dealer keeps telling us this is normal for the first 10,000 km. The car already had an engine tune up and there was no improvement in terms of consumption.

I don't know what to think if it is the fault of the automatic. According to the BMW brochures the automatic 118i should only consume a little more than a manual 118i. I mean even at cruising speed on the Autobahn (around 130 km/h) does the fuel economy suck. When I drove my sister to Bruchsal from my town we spent 80% of the route on the Autobahn A8. I engaged cruise control and let the car drive between 120-130 km/h depending on the speed limits. You can literally see the fuel clock go down and down every 20 minutes, literally.

Our driving style is "normal". When I drive the 118i I generally don't abuse it or slam the pedal. I tap the pedal lightly and accelerate gently, not briskly. When I see the light at a crossing is red I don't accelerate but take my foot off the gas pedal and let the car roll out only braking if I have too to avoid crossing the line or hitting a car if it is infront of me.

It's still a fun and great car in all aspects. Only the fuel economy is terrible.

No idea whats wrong. My Mum 118i (pre-facelift) drink less fuel than that and my 120i drink, depending on how I drive somewhere between 0.72-0.77 liters/mil. However both are manuals and in general automatic drink a little bit more.
Maybe you didnt follow the drive-in periode properly What can I say, maybe it will get better whne you have put on more miles on the car

Well during the break-in period we drove the car very slowly and didn't do any kickdowns too. The fuel economy was already pretty thirsty but I assumed this was part of the break-in period.

I told my sister to insist on getting a manual but she and my mom were in favor of an automatic. My mom thinks it "safer" because you have both hands on the wheel. You don't want to know what I think when I hear this!