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I have just had the pleasure of a day's owndership of a BMW 316d. First things first, the woman who rented it to me at Enterprise, kept on referring to it as a 2 litre. Have I missed something here?!?!? Still she upgraded me from a Vauxhall at no extra charge so thought I would give it a go.
After working out how to start the fooker and then get it into reverse my initial impressions were that it wasnt THAT slow. But then I added passengers and luggage and drove to a wedding.
A lot of the journey was on familiar roads, so striking, felt like a boat around the bends/roundabouts but smoother over the bumps. Then there's the lack of power, figured a diesel would at least have some torque. In this case if there was any I struggled to find it, dropping down for hills that didnt exist before. I have quite literally never spent so much time with the accelerator fully depressed in a car.
I will say in its defence it was reasonably comfortable and my god its frugal with fuel, I managed to do 230 odd miles in a little more than a quarter of a tank. And thats with queues for the Dartford crossing in both directions. If you want a car that realistically you're going to have trouble breaking the 60 or 70 limit in, but yet will try and sneak you over the 30 or 40 limit without you noticing (due to a soft civilised ride), this is the car for you.
That said, on the quieter stretch of the journey home, I did manage to nail a couple of vehicles with well timed overtaking maneuvers on the twisties. For a second I started to enjoy driving it, as every move you make, you have to make count. But still the handing back of the keys will be pleasurable. I know its not a true representation due to time of day travelled but, I travelled from Eastbourne to the Dartford crossing (60 miles) in the time I can do Eastbourne to Cambridge (same route) on a good run (125miles). Turns out a little bit of power helps the war against average road speed.
I knew taking out a hire car would make me appreciate my R but I truly had no idea, its easy when you dont drive anything else to forget just how lucky you are. So thank you R32, and thank you R32oc. Its a good place to be!
Just done this search, it is a 2l then is it? I thought the first digit represented the series, then the next two the engine size.... WTF?
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/bmw/3-series/18749/bmw-316d
From a driver that got his first "move out of my way flash" today, thanks for reading my diatribe. After so long in a car full of lightly pissed snoozers, I really felt I had to vent.
After working out how to start the fooker and then get it into reverse my initial impressions were that it wasnt THAT slow. But then I added passengers and luggage and drove to a wedding.
A lot of the journey was on familiar roads, so striking, felt like a boat around the bends/roundabouts but smoother over the bumps. Then there's the lack of power, figured a diesel would at least have some torque. In this case if there was any I struggled to find it, dropping down for hills that didnt exist before. I have quite literally never spent so much time with the accelerator fully depressed in a car.
I will say in its defence it was reasonably comfortable and my god its frugal with fuel, I managed to do 230 odd miles in a little more than a quarter of a tank. And thats with queues for the Dartford crossing in both directions. If you want a car that realistically you're going to have trouble breaking the 60 or 70 limit in, but yet will try and sneak you over the 30 or 40 limit without you noticing (due to a soft civilised ride), this is the car for you.
That said, on the quieter stretch of the journey home, I did manage to nail a couple of vehicles with well timed overtaking maneuvers on the twisties. For a second I started to enjoy driving it, as every move you make, you have to make count. But still the handing back of the keys will be pleasurable. I know its not a true representation due to time of day travelled but, I travelled from Eastbourne to the Dartford crossing (60 miles) in the time I can do Eastbourne to Cambridge (same route) on a good run (125miles). Turns out a little bit of power helps the war against average road speed.
I knew taking out a hire car would make me appreciate my R but I truly had no idea, its easy when you dont drive anything else to forget just how lucky you are. So thank you R32, and thank you R32oc. Its a good place to be!
Just done this search, it is a 2l then is it? I thought the first digit represented the series, then the next two the engine size.... WTF?
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/bmw/3-series/18749/bmw-316d
From a driver that got his first "move out of my way flash" today, thanks for reading my diatribe. After so long in a car full of lightly pissed snoozers, I really felt I had to vent.
