It has been 3 fill-ups since I have last zeroed the figures for consumption on my E90 320d. I have done a fair bit of highway driving, so I guess that paints a slightly rosy picture, as far as consumption is concerned. But, I have not been driving carefully. Driving style is brisk, not averse at all to use power to get through the traffic. A fair bit of urban or in-town driving mixed in as well.
Consumption is at 5,2 l/100 km.
Now in older days, say 15 years ago, one had to pay for power under the bonnet in terms of fuel consumption. The more powerful the car, the more fuel it consumed. It was a general, reliable rule-of thumb.
The special thing about the 320d is the amazing balance between power and consumption.
In one road test, the author described the car as “quick enough”. And I think that sums up the performance of the 320d pretty well. It has all the power just about any type of driver could require in just about any type of situation, plus a fair bit extra. Manufacturer claims 0-100 on 7,5 sekonds, with top speed at sea level, on level road at 235km/h, total power at 135kW. And road tests concur. But perhaps the most remarkable feature about the way the power is delivered, is the 380 Nm of torque, and even more significantly, that the bulk of this peak the torque is available from 1750 rpm, right through to 2750 r.pm. and still very good torque all the way to 4500 r.p.m.
Now, there are many cars that will deliver similar or more power. BUT....very, very few that will do this at the kind of fuel consumption this little beauty achieves. BMW claims an average of 6,1 l/100 km. Which is pretty spot on, in my opinion. My figures have been enhanced a bit by some highway driving. I have scoured the internet looking for a car that will deliver the same type of performance at this consumption. None. Closest I could find was the 2 litre Audi diesel. It gets fairly close, but does not quite measure up completely.
For now, I think for a balance between power, consumption and quality, there are very few cars out there that will trump BMW’s 320d.
Consumption is at 5,2 l/100 km.
Now in older days, say 15 years ago, one had to pay for power under the bonnet in terms of fuel consumption. The more powerful the car, the more fuel it consumed. It was a general, reliable rule-of thumb.
The special thing about the 320d is the amazing balance between power and consumption.
In one road test, the author described the car as “quick enough”. And I think that sums up the performance of the 320d pretty well. It has all the power just about any type of driver could require in just about any type of situation, plus a fair bit extra. Manufacturer claims 0-100 on 7,5 sekonds, with top speed at sea level, on level road at 235km/h, total power at 135kW. And road tests concur. But perhaps the most remarkable feature about the way the power is delivered, is the 380 Nm of torque, and even more significantly, that the bulk of this peak the torque is available from 1750 rpm, right through to 2750 r.pm. and still very good torque all the way to 4500 r.p.m.
Now, there are many cars that will deliver similar or more power. BUT....very, very few that will do this at the kind of fuel consumption this little beauty achieves. BMW claims an average of 6,1 l/100 km. Which is pretty spot on, in my opinion. My figures have been enhanced a bit by some highway driving. I have scoured the internet looking for a car that will deliver the same type of performance at this consumption. None. Closest I could find was the 2 litre Audi diesel. It gets fairly close, but does not quite measure up completely.
For now, I think for a balance between power, consumption and quality, there are very few cars out there that will trump BMW’s 320d.
