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BMW recently called CarAdvice to see if we were interested in participating in a car challenge of a different variety.
By Paul Maric
Instead of seeing who was quickest around a track or who could post the fastest speed, BMW enlisted their latest Efficient Dynamics vehicle – the 120d – and sent 16 motoring journalists, in four separate groups, through a set of challenges that would test the vehicle’s efficiency, along with its sporting edge.
The four stage challenge began with a ‘dynamic drive’ that had the contingent of journalists drive from BMW’s Melbourne headquarters to Phillip Island, with a detour through Poowong and the mountainous greenery that followed.
The first stage was to show drivers that the 120d, although currently BMW’s most efficient vehicle, is still a driver’s car at heart. Corners were eaten up and spat out with very little effort – even with the torrential Melbourne downpour that followed us for most of the day.
Most drivers averaged between 4.0-litres per 100km and 5.0L/100km, varying according to their average speed.
The dynamic drive portion of the day gave me a chance to get in tune with the 120d and see what it was all about. Priced from $46,790, the 120d Sport Hatch packs 130kW from its 2.0-litre turbocharged diesel engine. While the power is impressive, the equally impressive 350Nm of torque means the 120d dashes from 0-100km/h in just 7.6-seconds.
The vehicle feels in tune with the road and the driver at all times. Its penchant for frugal motoring doesn’t overcome the car’s ability to motor along with grace and pride – like all other offerings from BMW.
The steering is precise and while slightly heavy provides fantastic feel with the road. The test vehicle that I called home for the day was fitted with leather upholstery (beige, or lemon in colour as BMW like to call it) with sunroof and metallic paint, pushing the price just north of $50,000.
Moving right along to the second portion of the challenge, the slalom. Piece of cake, I though.
Well, the damp circuit and camber of the corner meant that watching your p’s and q’s was entirely necessary, otherwise all 350Nm of the 120d’s turbo-diesel would hit at once, resulting in masses of oversteer!
While fuel consumption was not recorded during the slalom, we got to feel what the car was like when pushed to its limits through tight corners and sudden direction changes, as simulated by the slalom.
The lack of body roll and emphasis on steering precision made the slalom quite a challenging task, especially with the damp circuit.
BMW’s claims of 4.8L/100km (combined) were easily achieved by all journalists on the drive down to the track. This impressive fuel economy figure is thanks to a few features BMW use exclusively on its Efficient Dynamics vehicles.
The list includes:
- Air Vent Control: Air vents will open as required by the drive, but will remain closed in situations where air circulation is not required, thus reducing fuel consumption by some 0.7 per cent.
- Optimum Shift Indicator: This featured suggests when the drive should change gears (either up or down) to remain in the optimum fuel efficiency zone.
- Electric Power Steering: Although it’s relatively self explanatory, the electric power steering uses an electric system opposed to the regular hydraulic system.
- Brake Energy Regeneration: Similar to the way a hybrid charges its batteries, this system allows the 120d to recharge the car battery in order to put less strain on the alternator, which requires engine power to operate.
- Auto Stop/Start Function: This feature automatically switches the car off when it becomes stationary. Similar to the system used in the Land Rover Freelander2 TD4.e we tested this week, it saves fuel by not running the engine while the car is stationary.
The most enjoyable part of the day had to be the motorkana circuit, which tested the driver’s ability to judge the car’s dimensions, passing through gates and lane change cones. After the gates, drivers had another slalom and then a u-turn bay which required vigorous use of the hand-brake!
While I have complained about BMW’s Dynamic Traction Control (DTC) mode in the past, it proved to be the pick of the driver aids during the motorkana. The system limits the intervention of the Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) and gives the drive more freedom with regards to the level of play before the system intervenes.
This meant plenty of tail out action and little system intervention, but it was still there in the event things went pear shaped!
Finally, before the day was out, it was a drive back to BMW’s Mulgrave headquarters from Phillip Island GP Circuit via the regular highway route. This time around the challenge was strictly to use as little fuel as possible.
Once the car has momentum, it’s frugal and simple to keep it moving, even when climbing hills. Sixth gear has long legs and really moves the car along whenever you dab the accelerator.
Highway cruising had the trip computer reading instantaneous fuel consumption of around 3.8L/100km on flat surfaces. It would then jump to around 10L/100km on hills and back to 0 when coasting.
While I rolled into the last set of traffic lights before turning into BMW’s headquarters with the average fuel consumption reading 4.1L/100km, the move from stationary nudged it back to 4.2L/100km, which is still an extremely commendable figure.
By my calculations, the trip to Phillip Island and back took around 274km. While the car averaged around 4.3L/100km there and back, we used a total of around 11.782-litres. With diesel currently at $1.19 a litre, the trip cost $14 – not bad, eh?
BMW’s 120d is currently in showrooms with the remaining onslaught of its Efficient Dynamics range arriving by early next year.
It wouldn’t be serious without some good old fashioned competition though, so I’ll let you know on Saturday how I ended up fairing against the rest of the journalists.
BMW called CarAdvice to see if we were interested in participating in a car challenge of the different variety.
Instead of seeing who was quickest around a track or who could post the fastest speed, BMW enlisted their latest Efficient Dynamics vehicle – the 120d – and sent 16 motoring journalists from four separate groups through a set of challenges which would test the vehicle’s efficiency, along with its sporting edge.
The four stage challenge began with a ‘dynamic drive’ which had the constituent of journalists drive from BMW’s Melbourne headquarters to Phillip Island, with a detour through Poowong and the mountainous greens which followed.
The first stage was to show drivers that the 120d, although currently being BMW’s most efficient vehicle, is still a driver’s car at heart. Corners were eaten up and spat out with very little effort – even with the torrential Melbourne downpour which followed us for most of the day.
Most drivers averaged between 4.0-litres/100km and 5.0-litres/100km, variable upon their average speed.
The dynamic drive portion of the day gave me a chance to get in tune with the 120d and see what it was all about. Priced from $46,790, the 120d Sport Hatch packs 130kW from its 2.0-litre turbocharged diesel engine. While the power is impressive, the equally impressive 350Nm of torque means the 120d dashes from 0-100km/h in just 7.6-seconds.
The vehicle feels in tune with the road and the driver at all times. Its penchant for frugal motoring doesn’t overcome the car’s ability to motor along with grace and pride – like all other offerings from BMW.
The steering is precise and while slightly heavy provides fantastic feel with the road. The test vehicle which I called home for the day was fitted with leather upholstery (beige, or lemon in colour as BMW like to call it) with sunroof and metallic paint, pushing the price just north of $50,000.
Moving right along to the section portion of the challenge, the slalom. Piece of cake, I though.
Well, the damp circuit and camber of the corner meant that watching your p’s and q’s was entirely necessary, otherwise all 350Nm of the 120d’s turbo-diesel would hit at once, resulting in masses of oversteer!
While fuel consumption was not recorded during the slalom, we got to feel what the car was like when pushed to its limits through tight corners and sudden direction changes, as simulated by the slalom.
The lack of body roll and emphasis on steering precision made the slalom quite a challenging task, especially with the damp circuit.
BMW’s claims of 4.8-litres/100km (combined) were easily achieved by all journalists on the drive down to the track. This impressive fuel economy figure is thanks to a few features BMW use exclusively on their Efficient Dynamics vehicles.
The list includes:
· Air Vent Control: Air vents will open as required by the drive, but will remain closed in situations where air circulation is not required, thus reducing fuel consumption by some .7%.
· Optimum Shift Indicator: This featured suggests when the drive should change gears (either up or down) to remain in the optimum fuel efficiency zone.
· Electric Power Steering: Although it’s relatively self explanatory, the electric power steering uses an electric system opposed to the regular hydraulic system.
· Brake Energy Regeneration: Similar to the way a hybrid charges its batteries, this system allows the 120d to recharge the car battery in order to put less strain on the alternator, which requires engine power to operate.
· Auto Stop/Start Function: This feature automatically switches the car off when it becomes stationary. Similar to the system used in the Land Rover Freelander2 TD4.e we tested this week, it saves fuel by not running the engine while the car is stationary.
The most enjoyable part of the day had to be the motorkana circuit which tested the driver’s ability to judge the car’s dimensions, passing through gates and lane change gates. After the gates, drivers had another slalom and then a u-turn bay which required vigorous use of the hand-brake!
While I have complained about BMW’s ‘DTC’ (Dynamic Traction Control) mode in the past, it proved to be the pick of the driver aids during the motorkana. The system limits the intervention of the DSC (Dynamic Stability Control) and gives the drive more freedom with regards to the level of play before the system intervenes.
This meant plenty of tail out action and little system intervention, but it was still there in the event things went pear shaped!
Finally, before the day was out, it was a drive back to BMW’s Mulgrave headquarters from Phillips Island GP Circuit via the regular highway route. This time around the challenge was strictly to use as little fuel as possible.
Once the car has momentum, it’s frugal and simple to keep it moving – even when climbing hills. Sixth gear has long legs and really moves the car along whenever you dab the accelerator.
Highway cruising had the trip computer reading instantaneous fuel consumption of around 3.8-litres/100km on flat surfaces. It would then jump to around 10-litres/100km on hills and back to 0 when coasting.
While I rolled into the last set of traffic lights before turning into BMW’s headquarters with the average fuel consumption reading 4.1-litres/100km, the move from stationary nudged it back to 4.2-litres/100km – which is still an extremely commendable figure.
By my calculations, the trip to Phillip Island and back took around 274km. While the car averaged around 4.3-litres/100km there and back, we used a total of around 11.782-litres. With diesel currently at $1.19/litre, the trip cost $14 – not bad, eh?
BMW’s 120d is currently in showrooms with the remaining onslaught of its Efficient Dynamics range arriving by early next year.
It wouldn’t be serious without some good old fashioned competition though. So I’ll let you know on Saturday how I ended up fairing against the rest of the journalists.
Tags: 120d, BMW, challenge, Diesel, efficient dynamics
Categories: BMW, Behind the Wheel, Car News, Diesel, Environment, First Steer, Fuel News, In car technology, Light Car, Running Costs
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I think my favourite aspect of BMW is that they actually deliver on fuel economy claims. I get so tired of brands (namely Lexus) saying that you’ll get a certain economy and it ends up being miles away. BMW consistently deliver on their promises. Any BMW that I have had experience with or known of in the last ten years has been very light on fuel. I’ve driven an X5 in peak hour traffic in London and still gotten 32 MPG. One of my friends who owns a 118d gets 60 MPG most of the time (that’s mostly city driving and it beats what she used to get in her Prius) and a couple of 535d’s that I know of get about 40 MPG consistently.
Many other brands can’t do this. Some can’t even get close to what they claim and it’s not good enough. People say a lot of bad things about BMW (though I’m not sure why) but you simply cannot argue with their efficiency.
that fuel consumption together with 0-100 in 7.6 are really respectable figures! Performance + efficiency, I like!
Wouldn’t the slalom test affect the L/100km even if they weren’t recording?
Good work BMW.
Alex although car manufacturers do their own testing and what not, groups like ADR are the ones who release official numbers. And lexus hybrids are more about performance than fuel economy. Take the LS600h. Its supposed to provide the performance of a 6 litre engine whilst using as much petrol as a V6 engine. I agree that BMW are doing are great job with their EfficiantDynamics
I picked up a manual 120d about 5 weeks ago (first delivered in Victoria we believe), since then I’ve done about 3500k’s, and I’m averaging 5.0L/100k’s, and that’s with the heavier 18″ rims, and the aircon on the whole time, plus I have the M Sport kit which deletes the active aerodynamic flaps in the grille. There’s also been some, ahem, ’spirited’ driving in there. The engine is still running in and economy improves with every tank, I expect to get 1000km’s out of a fill within the next few weeks.
Hey Michael, can you provide some comments on what the 120d is like with a manual gearbox.
Given that oilers dont traditionally like to rev, how have you found the manual/diesel combo?
Cheers
JJ
Hi JJ,
You’re right, it doesn’t like to rev! It takes quite an adjustment in driving style, having to drive on Torque rather than revs – I previously drove a Cooper S so very different. Certainly off the line in 1st it runs out of revs very quickly, but once into 2nd and 3rd it build up speed deceptively fast. Driving in the hills you can almost drive like an auto, just leave it in 3rd or 4th and drive it on the torque curve, rather than up and down. Like any turbo-diesel it can be sluggish off boost, but on boost it just pulls and pulls. Compared to a petrol hot-hatch it is very relaxed feeling, while probably being just as quick as something frantic like the Cooper S was.
I’d actually say that if they didn’t know, a passenger would be hard pressed to pick it as a diesel in normal day to day driving with the windows up, it’s very quiet and refined until you get up to quick high revs when there’s obviously a bit of diesel rattle.
The StartStop feature can be quite disconcerting at first until you get used to it, though as a slightly amusing side feature, I found that if you stall the engine within moments of a restart, it will actually restart again with no intervention. Start Stop can be disable with a button on the centre console too (though if you turn it off while the engine is stopped at the lights, you have to restart it manually – it won’t restart when you dip the clutch)
Hope that helps.
Michael
“I get so tired of brands (namely Lexus) saying that you’ll get a certain economy and it ends up being miles away.”
Every car manufacturer overstates their fuel economy claims. Their figures are derived in absolutely perfect conditions, with no road imperfections nor aerodynamic drag.
Michael, can you please give us a ballpark figure as to how much you paid for your 120d in total?
Paul, when you recorded those consumption numbers, what kind of speeds were you averaging?(ie 110km/h)
Karl:
Averages varied between drivers, mine was around 80km/h, over a distance of around 120km.
Hey Michael,
I too echo Damian’s question. I am in the market for a 120d – manual (with the new efficient dynamics). Just wondering if BMW are like VW, where VW inflate their RRP, only to give a nice discount offer at dealer level to make you think you are getting a big deal ?
….”Michael, can you please give us a ballpark figure as to how much you paid for your 120d in total?”….
Cheers
BAZ
It was just under 58k on the road, though that was with met. paint, M Sport pack, Xenons, 18’s, and HiFi. It was also under the BMW corporate program so there are discounts that apply with that as well.
oh yeah, if you have an even remotely dodgy back, I’d STRONGLY recommend getting the electrically adjustable lumbar support option, without that it has no adjustable lumbar support at all, only adjustable backrest width (which I must say is very good).
Thanks for all your posts Michael.
An auto 123d hatch with M sport package and hifi intrigues me!
This is a fantastic car!
Thanks Michael for all the posts… However I am stuck in a bit of a dilemma… I am interested in this car, however there are talks of a new one being released in 2011.
Anyone know about this?
Last thing you want to do is purchase a car for 60k finding out theres a new model out!!
Cheers
Ahhh but KM!!! Buy a used one OR buy one of these just before the new one comes out, DISCOUNTSSSSS ;)
But I agree, buying it now would be silly.
It’s getting long in the tooth, hold on till the new one whenever it comes out.
Great lil car. Hope the update has a little more space!