This is the BMW 118d, a five-door rear-wheel-drive car with a 2.0-liter direct-injection turbodiesel four-cylinder engine. It seats five and looks pretty good. The engine makes 141 horsepower and 221 pound-feet of torque. It will prod the car to 60 mph in about 8.8 seconds, returning 59 mpg on the (foreign) highway and spewing only 118 grams of CO2 per kilometer. The best part, the car will go 700 miles between fill-ups.
Question: Looking at specs only and forgetting that it's a BMW, and based on permanent $4+ gas, would you buy this car? Please answer yes or no and why in the comments section. Then send this post to friends and family and ask them to answer.
7 comments:
I don't see any reason why not to buy the car, other than I probably cannot afford it--especially if the pricetag is similar to other Beamers. I tend not to get too worked up about buying domestic vs. buying foreign, so that's not really an issue for me. I don't necessarily like the diesel option. I guess the answer is I'd consider it, all things being equal.
Art,
Why don't like the diesel option?
Bob
Regarding diesel, in spite of what you said about emissions it's always been my impression that diesel engines were generally "dirtier" engines. They also seem to sound noisier when driving. But...that might not be the case with this, given that it's a BMW.
Art,
That's what I thought. Diesel engines have come a long way since the '70's. They are no longer the particulate-belching smokers they once were.
Bob
Would I buy it? I'd consider it, but I'd have a couple of reservations.
The decreased fuel consumption is almost completely offset by the significantly higher price of diesel fuel.
To illustrate, consider the Honda Fit or Nissan Versa. The EPA rates both at around 30 MPG combined. With gas at $4/gallon, it costs you about $0.11 / mile to operate. The BMW 118d has a combined cycle rating that works out to about 52 MPG. (The EU test cycles use different test standards and assumptions, but assume their combined rating is similar to the EPA combined rating) With diesel running $0.80 higher, The BMW costs $0.09 / mile to operate. In a year's time, the diesel might save you an underwhelming $200-$300.
There are tradeoffs too. To clean up the emissions, most of the new diesels from Germany require the addition of urea. This is a serviceable item for the cars akin to getting the oil changed -- some will not operate with an empty urea tank to prevent unwanted emissions.
There's also the issue of availability. Not all stations carry diesel fuel. As the US mandates more formulations of cleaner diesel fuel, it is going to make it a little bit harder to fill-up.
The question asks whether I as an American would buy it. Let's face it. If the average American put as much thought in to this as you or I would we wouldn’t be having this discussion. To put it in perspective: so far this year, Toyota has sold 90,000 Priuses (Pri-ii?) Meanwhile, GM has sold 135,000 full-sized SUVS.
Greg,
I don't quite get the math on this. How does a 16 percent difference in the price between gas and diesel only produce a paltry savings when the BMW gets 73 percent better gas mileage than the Fit? Are you factoring in the vehicle's purchase price?
Bob
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