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2004 TDI 130 Sport - poor start/mpg


zUgan
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It's one of the reasons the 520d is becoming popular with cab drivers, it really does do 48 around town and 60 on a motorway run, BMW are way ahead of the competition in mpg terms, the figures you are getting MrMe are no better than any other 2.0 diesel.

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It's one of the reasons the 520d is becoming popular with cab drivers, it really does do 48 around town and 60 on a motorway run, BMW are way ahead of the competition in mpg terms, the figures you are getting MrMe are no better than any other 2.0 diesel.

 

I'm not trying to say I'm getting better than any other 2.0 diesel, but I'm also a complete pedant for not wanting to give people duff information that they might make buying decisions from.   To say the 520d does 48 mpg around town is just madness.  Not a cat in hells chance.

 

I've had this car 2 years this month and done 36,000 miles in it.  60 mpg on a motorway might be possible if you were able to keep at a constant 55 mph all the way.

 

I'm not looking to argue, I'm simply saying that 48 around town is just totally out.  I am getting 48 from a hell of a lot of motorway miles.

 

No offence intended, but it just isn't going to happen for 99% of drivers. 

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Well then I just don't understand your figures, I'm not arguing with you, you are stating what you get and I believe you, how much town driving do you actually do out of interest? do you have stop/start turned on?

 

I'm just stating the figures our drivers get, as I say above, it's why everyone that isn't buying a Prius is buying a 520d, because the are better than everything else in terms of MPG.

 

It's your motorway mpg that surprises me the most though, I've never owned a 2.0 diesel that wouldn't do 60mpg on a motorway run, and I don't hang about, I normally cruise at 80 odd (kph obvioulsy).

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Well then I just don't understand your figures, I'm not arguing with you, you are stating what you get and I believe you, how much town driving do you actually do out of interest? do you have stop/start turned on?

 

I'm just stating the figures our drivers get, as I say above, it's why everyone that isn't buying a Prius is buying a 520d, because the are better than everything else in terms of MPG.

 

It's your motorway mpg that surprises me the most though, I've never owned a 2.0 diesel that wouldn't do 60mpg on a motorway run, and I don't hang about, I normally cruise at 80 odd (kph obvioulsy).

 

Stop/Start has been used from about 15,000 miles.  However, I had always hit the button manually if stopped in traffic for more than 30-60 seconds.  I now use it all the time (I don't particularly like it, but I use it).

 

There's no way a 520d M Sport is going to give anyone 60 mpg at 80-odd on a motorway run (unless they never have to touch the throttle once at 80 mph and get no traffic flow problems for a very, very long time).  It is a big car albeit with a very good engine, but I'm just not one of those drivers who'll say everything is wonderful and do 60 mpg when it won't.  It is the best car I have ever owned, but I'm being entirely honest about the figures and I also happen to think it is a bloody brilliant mpg for what type of car it is, the overall performance you get and the quite remarkable low noise levels and superb ride.

 

My town driving really is minimal.  The car doesn't go anywhere except on my very long commutes.  We're talking about 1,000 miles last week on 2 x 320 mile trips and 2 x 250 mile trips.  That is what I do most of the time. 

 

It does absolutely zero leisure miles, no trips to the shops, nothing.  The X6 is used for all of that type of stuff.  The 520d is entirely for my business use.  I would honestly be amazed if it has done 1,500 miles of short trips.  It has probably gone half that if it is lucky.

 

On Thursday I'll be on the A1 within 15 minutes of leaving home at 5am, I'll stay on it for 248 miles, then I'll be off it for 2 minutes, do a full days work, then I'll drive back in the evening.  That is a pretty normal example of what the car does.  In time the average might, just might, get to 49 mpg - but I know for certain when I have done the odd bit of town driving at the end of commutes that the mpg will fall quickly.

 

Ask Waylander too.  He has a 520d and he'll tell you what he gets with mostly town driving. +++

Edited by NewNiceMrMe
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As I say, I don't doubt what you say, but then I don't doubt my drivers either, they are obviously doing very different types of driving, I'm not sure if it makes much difference with manual vs auto, but most of ours are manual.

I've driven a couple of the 520's and I can fully understand why you hold it in such high regard, it really is a fantastic car, it's as happy running executives to the airport as it is taking pensioners home from Tesco, or delivering brides to weddings.

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Manual v the 8 speed auto might make a difference, but I'd be surprised if it is that much.  But hey, perhaps it is.  I'm not sure if Waylanders is a manual or auto, perhaps he could add more to that.

 

As regards the car overall, the best compliment I can give it is this....

 

A few months ago I received a call from my BMW dealer.  They said they'd do me an 'unbelievable' deal on a new 730d M Sport.

 

Off I went, thinking that I could hand them my car and £10k.  Yes, that's the type of deal they were talking about.  Now, it didn't turn out like that but it was still a deal that most would consider very good indeed. 

 

I guess some of the difference in 'deal' comes through my usual speccing up of the said 730d.  However, they come with pretty much everything bar the kitchen sink to begin with.

 

I drove it.  A decent distance too.  A good half hour or more test drive, ensuring I went on the roads I might do in mine, etc.

 

The 730d M Sport is a very fine car indeed.  Supremely refined, quiet, the 6 cylinder engine, more interior space (although from the drivers perspective it doesn't actually offer that much more space) and the car wraps around you and 'shrinks' very nicely.

 

Easy decision then.  Yes it was.  It was offering me nowhere near enough 'extra' than I got from the 520d to even contemplate doing the deal.

 

Because I have plenty of toys in mine to begin with, any additional 'tech' (of which there wasn't much if any) is lost on me.  I have NavPro etc, so all of that is lost on me too.  The 6 cylinder engine is very nice but it certainly can't give me the economy I get out of mine and do I ever feel like I need the extra power?  Twice - in my entire 2 year ownership.  That is when I've thought "wish I had more grunt in the car"; both were occasions when I wanted to catch a dickhead up.  Not really merited.

 

I do think cars are a thing of circumstance.  Nothing could be truer than the 520d.  It suits what I do quite brilliantly.  I jump (slide) into it, drive anywhere between 100 to 350 miles, stay overnight or do a days work upon arrival, then I drive back.  That, more than anything else, should say how comfortable it is.  I can do 250+ miles, start working immediately at a clients, and drive back in the same day. 

 

Right now it is looking very sorry for itself.  I need a new front number plate (cracked).  I have a few tiny yellow scrapes under the side skirts on the drivers side from a high kerb in a hotel car park, a small dent in the front valance from a service station kerb and it is filthy and in need of a wash.  All the above (apart from the number plate) would be un-noticed to anyone unless I pointed them out, but inside it is as fresh and unworn as the day I bought (okay, it probably isn't, but it certainly looks very new and is immaculate inside).

 

Yet, after 2 years and 36k (I think it might be 37k and it'll have another 500+ miles added to it on Thursday) I feel no compunction to change it.  I'm not bored with, it does what I need it it, I still think it looks reasonably good and I love the spec.  That is almost certainly because it does 99.9% of the things I need it to - with total ease.

 

But....

 

If my travelling was to stop, would I change it?  Almost certainly yes.  It would then a 2.0d diesel doing a commute to an office and nothing more.  That is when I would probably go straight back out and buy a V8.  Then I might do a few Sunday jaunts again.  I doubt the latter, but you never know.

 

I always wondered why the 5 series kept winning 'car of the year' etc awards.  I now know.  The cars they make, regardless of engine, just do everything so damned well.  Spacious yet not mammoth enough to be an issue parking, anonymous enough for me to travel the length and breadth of the UK with nobody wanting to attack the car or race it, handles very well indeed on country lanes, has the paddleshifts (bit pointless and I probably wouldn't add them again as I haven't used them in the last 18 months!) if I feel like taking a more dynamic approach (laughable really), and everything just works flawlessly.

 

The car has one flaw. 

 

The coat/shirt hanger thingy on the rear roof grabs isn't wide enough, so you have to put hangers on the handle itself and not the little attachment thing.

 

Not quite a design problem that is going be a decision changer for most people. :roflmao:

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