BM3 petrol or diesel

RichieC101

I have another question which shows my lack of knowledge (or common sense) when it comes to cars.
So I am down to a choice of 320d sport manual or 320i sport automatic. I average about 20ks atm with mixture of good solid roads and country driving but I am anticipating that my mileage will cut to maybe a third of that shortly. Both are sport but d has sat nav while i has heated, electric seats. Petrol has 40 more kms but is 2500 cheaper.
Common sense says diesel all day long but something is making me seriously consider the Petrol automatic. Someone put me back in my box please and tell me to cop the FO.
I appreciate advice. Thanks

ldxo15wus6fpgm

What ages are the cars you're looking at?
Unless you are doing a decent amount of urban driving I wouldn't bother with the auto personally.

Bigus

petrols give a lot more trouble if it's an E90

RichieC101

Sorry I meant to put in that the cars are 2012 so latest model. I know there were problems with the E90 coils but I think not so much an issue anymore. I suppose 320i are rare for a reason

RichieC101

Also my office is in city centre so stuck in traffic some days of the week and on other days I'm around the country roads of West Cork so that's why I was considering petrol automatic

bmwguy

The diesel is better value if the petrol has 40000 more kms on it (i assume you meant 40000 not just 40?).
If that's the case its worth 2500 more even if it was petrol v petrol or diesel v diesel.
But diesel, like for like, would be dearer than petrol.

The fact that your mileage is going to reduce to 6k means the petrol will more than suit you

In this case, I am a little bit torn. I usually go for petrol but I might do for diesel if it was my own money with the facts you gave. However, I think the auto gear box might sway me to the petrol. I would buy on condition here, and service history.

RichieC101

Ya it's 40,000 more kms so that's why I'm hesitant. Thing is I don't think I would regret getting the diesel and might well regret if I go for petrol auto. It's a tricky one to figure out. The higher mileage may well swing it for me

RichieC101

Should also add that both cars are from BMW dealers so will have full history and 2 yr warranty

James Bond Junior

If your mileage is definitely dropping the petrol is a no brainer. 40000km isn't a massive difference in the grand scheme of things especially if you are going to be doing small miles. That difference will be cancelled out by the small mileage anyway in a few years time if it was a bit high at the moment. The swing is coming back towards petrol again and you might find in a few years a petrol 3 series might even command a premium over a diesel one due to people moving away from the black pump.

RichieC101

Well with my job my mileage will drop soon but could go back up in two yrs or so which makes it tricky then to decide. I also like the idea of the automatic and heated, electric seats are a bonus. Both nice cars so lot to think about. There does seem to be a lot of negativity about diesel at the moment so you might be right about that.

The diesel is a no brainer. Even if your mileage drops a lot you will still be spending much less on fuel driving the diesel than the no doubt very thirsty 320i. That's leaving aside the 40k kms more which to me is a significant amount of difference not the small difference some will claim. Think about it, you will be driving the diesel for two years at your current mileage before you reach what the petrol has done now. Wear and tear items will go sooner, it will be harder to sell due to petrol and it will always have 40k kms more which will put people off.

It's a myth that diesel makes no sense at low mileage, you just need to give it a blast every now and then to ensure dpf regen.

James Bond Junior

Romeo Ambitious Stratum wrote: »

The diesel is a no brainer. Even if your mileage drops a lot you will still be spending much less on fuel driving the diesel than the no doubt very thirsty 320i. That's leaving aside the 40k kms more which to me is a significant amount of difference not the small difference some will claim. Think about it, you will be driving the diesel for two years at your current mileage before you reach what the petrol has done now. Wear and tear items will go sooner, it will be harder to sell due to petrol and it will always have 40k kms more which will put people off.

It's a myth that diesel makes no sense at low mileage, you just need to give it a blast every now and then to ensure dpf regen.

Increased service costs and very real potential problems with turbo, egr, timing chain (possibly), dpf, dmf to name but a few.

In 3 years time the market will be flooded with 320d's but not many 320i's. The market may be smaller but there definitely people out there for petrol cars and I really think that is set to increase again. People are waking up to the fact that diesel doesn't make as much sense beyond chape tax for a lot of people.

RichieC101

That's exactly why it's such a tricky decision in some ways. The higher mileage is definitely putting me off and the fact that my job mileage is so uncertain is a bit of a pain. It's mad that I can only find one approved petrol in the whole country within my price range.
Any thoughts on 1.8 M Sport. Ride too hard and not worth the extra premium? Noticeable power diff between 1.8. & 320D?

RichieC101

With regards to the tax diff it is only €80 diff between the two?

Blazer

Hard call...that 320i is a nice spec and I love the bmw auto box.
I was looking at 3 series around that year but plunged for a 2010 525D 3 litre as its a fantastic engine.
The 320D is no slouch..my previous car was a 07 e92 320D and it matches the 3 litre 5 series in speed and acceleration thanks to its lower weight.
Always found the entry level 2 litre petrols a bit slow but basing that from my experience with bmw diesels, apart from a 335i i test drove one day..:D

RichieC101

Well I've never really had a fast car so im thinking the 320i will be plenty fast for me 😃 The spec is definitely better in it over the d but that shouldn't really be the priority I suppose. Bit of a headwreck to be honest haha

Blazer

RichieC101 wrote: »

Well I've never really had a fast car so im thinking the 320i will be plenty fast for me �� The spec is definitely better in it over the d but that shouldn't really be the priority I suppose. Bit of a headwreck to be honest haha

well if you're sure your mileage will be small go with the petrol.
I can definitely see a swing in the next few years back to petrol once the EU start hammering diesel and the Irish government gets in on the act and starts screwing diesel motorists again.

RichieC101

So my boss spoke to me today and says for the next two years my mileage will cut but not by as much as I thought. Should be doing about 20,000 kms per year, mixture of city and country roads.
Diesel it is so I suppose 😐