320d Vs 335d

So, one sunny in April 2011 my story begins.

After much searching for my perfect car (an E92 335d M Sport), I decided to change my goal to a much slower 320d. Why you ask? Well the 335d has a one of the best deisel engines in the world, a 3.0L twin-turbo diesel engine, which to the non-geeks reading is 286BHP and after a simple ECU remap this can be easily raised to 340-350BHP and 700NM of torque.

The trouble is that constantly increasing cost of fuel, which I'd like to add is spiralling madly out of control here in the UK, coupled with a crazy road tax system means this car is at best a huge drain on resources for me around 40MPG on a run and just 20 in town (these are real life figures), keeping in mind that diesel is at present £1.45 a litre and tax would be £245 a year.

On the flip side, the 320d is £95 a year to tax and returns 60MPG on a run and 40MPG in town, which is rather good and in return I get 177BHP. Okay, that is a full 109BHP less than the car orgianlly wanted but I knew this could be improved upon and I could still save money on running costs.

Roughly, at 10,000 miles a year the 335d would cost in fuel £1647.96 and the 320d  £1098.64, a £549.32 saving. Factor in the £150 tax saving and the grand total is an £699.32 a year. Not bad at all.
(http://www.fuel-economy.co.uk/calc.shtml)

I set about looking for a car, firsty I looking at BMW dealerships, not a good idea as they were overpriced at the best of times and very average spec cars with minimal options. Then I looked at Autotrader which proved very useful, the first car I saw was a Sapphire Black 320d M Sport coupe at a small dealership in Oxfordshire. This car was perfect in every way, and I mean perfect. Cream leather interior, BMW Professional audio system with DAB and heated seats amongst others. Most importantly though it had a full BMW service history.
(www.j-v-s.co.uk)

Here was the advert:
"2 Doors, Manual, Coupe, Diesel, 48,000 miles, SAPPHIRE BLACK. JUST 1 OWNER FROM NEW WITH FULL BMW SERVICE HISTORY,4 NEW BRIDGESTONE RUN FLAT TYRES FITTED. SPECIFICATION INCLUDES: CREAM DAKOTA LEATHER, HEATED FRONT SEATS, DAB DIGITAL RADIO WITH SPEAKER UPRGRADE, POPLAR WOOD TRIM, XENON HEADLAMPS, M SPORT BODY STYLING 18" ALLOYS. THIS CAR IS IN OUTSTANDING CONDITION AND IS JUST 95 PER YEAR TO TAX! WITH 177BHP AND 50MPG+ IT IS THE IDEAL COMBINATION"

I called the dealer immideately and was very supprised by the service, not some pushy salesman but instead a well spoken and attentive gentleman who actually knew what he was talking about. I booked a test drive for the following weekend and counted down the days until I could get behind the wheel. Anyway, the car drove amazingly well, the front end was some much more willing to turn than the 335d and steering had more feel, but as you would expect the lack of power was very apparent.

Remembering that there are methods of tuning to improve that power output, I went ahead and bought the car. Thankfully the dealer was very patientent when my bank decilened the transaction twice and when my son decided to take the dealer's lunch. In order: 1 apple, 1 bannana, 1 pear, a sandwich and a bottle of water. I say take, he gave him the food after stealing the apple of the desk without us seeing.

After all the problems with the bank, the money was finally transfered and I took the keys to the BMW there and then. I drove somewhere in the region of 1000 miles that weekend, I was happy with the car to put it mildly.

Stay tuned folks.