Practical, refined and economical BMW
19/02/09 10:57 Filed in: Road
tests
The BMW 318d Auto and I did not get
off to the best of starts. The first few days coincided with the
tail end of the recent snowy period and, when I drove the car home
I just knew it was unlikely to make its way up the uncleared road
to the house.
However, I was not prepared for the fact that it became stuck even before reaching the incline. In forward or reverse, the 318d just sat there spinning its wheels. I trudged up to the house and fetched my trusty snow shovel. It took me 45 minutes removing minute amounts of snow before the BMW decided to gain enough traction to park it at the bottom of the driveway.
It was not a good start to our relationship and, as you can imagine, after that length of time digging and being mystified as to what was making the BMW steadfastly refuse to move, the air was quite blue – the same colour as my fingers!
Why, oh why, do BMW not import their four-wheel-drive saloons into the UK? Audi has grabbed some of the BMW market, just because they offer quattro four-wheel-drive models of most of their range. In some, more snow-prone parts of the country sales of quattro versions come close to 50% of total sales – something that BMW would do well to note.
However, the snow is now gone and the BMW and I have become good friends once again. There really are few places in the motoring world that I would rather be for everyday driving, other than in a BMW.... just as long as there is no threat of snow.
The BMW 318d is aimed squarely at the growing market for cars with good mileage per gallon and low carbon dioxide emissions. Despite the 318 tag, the engine is actually a two-litre (1995 cc to be precise) with a 122 hp power output.
Now, you will have seen that I have had a ‘go’ at some recent economy specials, where the cars appear overgeared and pithless. Not the BMW 318d. I found this a very driveable car. The diesel and the automatic gearbox seem to be a very good match. You press the accelerator and the response is pretty instant, with just a tiny delay from the automatic gearbox. The 0-62 mph acceleration of 9.4 seconds is pretty respectable for a diesel automatic.
The combined fuel consumption figure is 52.3 mpg (almost 8 mpg lower than the manual version). The reality during my time with the car was around 38 to 40 mpg (according to the trip computer) on mixed country and town driving, with a high of 42 mpg on a longer run. These are still impressive figures in my book.
Carbon dioxide emissions increase by 11 g/km for the automatic, but are still quite reasonable at 144 g/km.
The even better news is the refinement of the BMW 318d. Noise levels are very low and, with the effortless driveability, you soon forget that there is a diesel power unit under this bonnet. There is no discernible diesel vibration to spoil the experience.
Credit to BMW for sending out a fairly basic car, rather than loading it with all the extras. Yet, the BMW still manages to feel special. The driving position feels right, the controls are well laid out and, of course, you have that lovely rear-wheel-drive balance to the chassis.
To be honest I do have one quibble on the controls, but it is very minor. I still cannot fathom the logic for steering column stalks that do not move from the central position. To me it seems like a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist, with the added aggravation that you cannot tell from the stalk’s position what speed the wipers are set to, or whether the indicators are really off!
Prices for the BMW 318d start at £24,235 with the automatic version at £25,695.
If you are looking for a refined, economical no-nonsense premium saloon, the BMW 318d could well be the answer. Just check the weather forecast for snow.
However, I was not prepared for the fact that it became stuck even before reaching the incline. In forward or reverse, the 318d just sat there spinning its wheels. I trudged up to the house and fetched my trusty snow shovel. It took me 45 minutes removing minute amounts of snow before the BMW decided to gain enough traction to park it at the bottom of the driveway.
It was not a good start to our relationship and, as you can imagine, after that length of time digging and being mystified as to what was making the BMW steadfastly refuse to move, the air was quite blue – the same colour as my fingers!
Why, oh why, do BMW not import their four-wheel-drive saloons into the UK? Audi has grabbed some of the BMW market, just because they offer quattro four-wheel-drive models of most of their range. In some, more snow-prone parts of the country sales of quattro versions come close to 50% of total sales – something that BMW would do well to note.
However, the snow is now gone and the BMW and I have become good friends once again. There really are few places in the motoring world that I would rather be for everyday driving, other than in a BMW.... just as long as there is no threat of snow.
The BMW 318d is aimed squarely at the growing market for cars with good mileage per gallon and low carbon dioxide emissions. Despite the 318 tag, the engine is actually a two-litre (1995 cc to be precise) with a 122 hp power output.
Now, you will have seen that I have had a ‘go’ at some recent economy specials, where the cars appear overgeared and pithless. Not the BMW 318d. I found this a very driveable car. The diesel and the automatic gearbox seem to be a very good match. You press the accelerator and the response is pretty instant, with just a tiny delay from the automatic gearbox. The 0-62 mph acceleration of 9.4 seconds is pretty respectable for a diesel automatic.
The combined fuel consumption figure is 52.3 mpg (almost 8 mpg lower than the manual version). The reality during my time with the car was around 38 to 40 mpg (according to the trip computer) on mixed country and town driving, with a high of 42 mpg on a longer run. These are still impressive figures in my book.
Carbon dioxide emissions increase by 11 g/km for the automatic, but are still quite reasonable at 144 g/km.
The even better news is the refinement of the BMW 318d. Noise levels are very low and, with the effortless driveability, you soon forget that there is a diesel power unit under this bonnet. There is no discernible diesel vibration to spoil the experience.
Credit to BMW for sending out a fairly basic car, rather than loading it with all the extras. Yet, the BMW still manages to feel special. The driving position feels right, the controls are well laid out and, of course, you have that lovely rear-wheel-drive balance to the chassis.
To be honest I do have one quibble on the controls, but it is very minor. I still cannot fathom the logic for steering column stalks that do not move from the central position. To me it seems like a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist, with the added aggravation that you cannot tell from the stalk’s position what speed the wipers are set to, or whether the indicators are really off!
Prices for the BMW 318d start at £24,235 with the automatic version at £25,695.
If you are looking for a refined, economical no-nonsense premium saloon, the BMW 318d could well be the answer. Just check the weather forecast for snow.