countryman Posted October 20, 2013 Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 So in my quest for a 4wd that has good mpg i am now looking at a BMW X3, 2 litre diesel, i thought this could be it but i have read a lot of people have had turbo problems with them, two grand to put right if it goes. I am looking at an 07- 10 model, any one got or had one. Thanks Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sishyplops Posted October 20, 2013 Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 Very nice I hear Vidal Sassoon drives one and Nicky Clarke .lol , Chelsea should be a good place to get one. Only joking, have had a few colleagues with BMW 2.0D engined saloons and they are ok to about 80k then all manor of things went wrong with them paralleled only by my useless Audi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monster1971 Posted October 20, 2013 Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 according to clarkson they cant be classed as a 4 wheel drive going by recent experiance bmw 's are very expensive when they go wrong good luck monster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert Posted October 20, 2013 Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 Never had one,clarkson panned it at launch and this was enough for me to get my deposit back,rhe 2.0 derv motor (engine type N97) is prone to a timing chain failure beyoud 100k and its on the back of the engine driven by the crank so it lunches the crank as well.A good one will be a nice motor on road and prob with the right tyres be up to a bit of snow as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countryman Posted October 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 mmm, did not know they were hairdresser rated, as i have ridiculed a mate with a Freelander might not be the best choice. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDAV Posted October 20, 2013 Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 Look at the CR-V petrols do 40mpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbo33 Posted October 20, 2013 Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 Apparently hopeless on even slightly damp grass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countryman Posted October 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 The Honda CRV does look good. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbiep Posted October 20, 2013 Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 (edited) The biggest issue with these is the insane extended service intervals which BMW (and Audi, and Merc, and ...) have brought in to keep running costs down for the fleet market. Oil and oil filters are, quite simply, screwed after major mileage, and having a 18,000 mile service interval is just storing up problems for later on. This 'knackered oil' also leads to the timing chain failures at 80-100k. The other big problem for all modern turbo engines (whether diesel or the 'ecoboost' ford/fiat petrol types is that, to get the modern high BHP, the turbos are spinning at incredibly high rates. Switch off a turbo-charged engine instantly after a motorway/hard driving run, and the oil in the turbo carbonises instantly due to the very high temperature. 80,000 miles on, the oil feed pipe to the turbo is clogged with carbon, and no oil feed = dead turbo, instantly. So, if you do get one. Get one that has been over-serviced if you can. Might be worth getting a full engine flush carried out, to de-carbonise the oil feed pipes Always idle the engine (1-2 minutes) OR drive easily for a few minutes after a motorway run, or towing, or hard driving. The crazy thing is that an oil and oil filter change at a BMW dealer costs less that £150. It really is a case of penny wise, pound foolish, in my opinion. And yes, I own and drive a BMW (and mine gets an oil and filter every 9,000 miles). Edited October 20, 2013 by robbiep Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lees Posted October 20, 2013 Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 £150 for an oil change?! It's only £50 worth of oil and 30 minutes work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert Posted October 20, 2013 Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 £150 for an oil change?! It's only £50 worth of oil and 30 minutes work. And a chrome amd glass pimp palace with wall to wall snap on boxes,if its over 3 years old go to an indie,it will be a ****ty chair and a unisex toilet but you can leave with the shirt on your back Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamster Posted October 20, 2013 Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 My wife has run two of these from new with zero issues, they are not (let's off road vehicles) and Clarkson is an idiot for taking one axle deep into mud and deliberately getting it stuck. Had it been a Ford he'd still be in the studio praising it, the current X3 version has bested it's competitors in motoring journals including the Evoque. They were designed as prestige small SUV's for normal road usage with the added sure footedness that comes from having permanent four wheel drive, if you put the appropriate tyres on them they will be plenty good enough for slippery and snowy conditions but again they were never designed for pigeon shooters in the first place. In bog standard form they are better than the X5 on slippery surfaces which is harder to stop because it is much heavier. If you're looking at used examples then they are no worse than anything else and better than most in reliability, just make sure you get one that has always been serviced correctly or overserviced as someone mentioned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbiep Posted October 20, 2013 Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 Hell, why not just go the whole hog when it's over 3 years old and out of warranty. Filter and oil from Halfords, and shove the receipt in with the owners handbook to show it was done. Probably £30, maybe even less. Point is, if you are selling a car like that, then a main agent stamp makes quite a big difference. Over-serviced makes a big difference. It shows knowledgable buyers, and there are some out there, that you care about your car and looked after it properly, and it is less likely to suffer those timing chain tensioner or turbo problems that the 18,000/36,000/54,000-sold off fleet cars are going to have. I've done it before myself. Advertising a car via the bay, yes, you still get the comedians, but if it has been overserviced and very well maintained, then you get people fighting each other to buy a car, rather than being lost in the noise of all the ex-fleets Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted October 21, 2013 Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 If you are looking at an alternative we have just bought the missus an 09 plate rav 4 and that is pretty promising. Nicely built and a decent car to drive should be ok for tracks and soft off roading economy seems very good considering Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamster Posted October 21, 2013 Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 If you are looking at an alternative we have just bought the missus an 09 plate rav 4 and that is pretty promising. Nicely built and a decent car to drive should be ok for tracks and soft off roading economy seems very good considering Unless you plan to reach the top of mount Nevis I personally think a Toyota Rav4 is the best all rounder small SUV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countryman Posted October 21, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 I am running a Land Cruiser at the moment which i can not fault other than the poor mpg, about 25mpg on average, it has a hefty old 3 litere diesel lump in it which to be honest is far more power than i need, if i could find something that was as reliable and did not get stuck on a wet grassy field i would be happy. I would expect to change the tyres to some A/T and i am not going to be doing any hard core off roading with it, but i need to get around 40mpg with it as filling up is killing me. I have had a look at the x3 and although it looks a bit dated it would fit the bill, from what a lot of you are saying the service history is crucial on these. Thanks Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thepasty Posted October 21, 2013 Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 I had to pull out or should I say pull up a 61 plate X3 yesterday, it couldnt get up a slight incline on wet grass, proper shoddy... and then I watched them smack the carp out of the underside as they struggled with ground clearance on the track back to the road. I felt quite smug in my old hilux battle wagon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aris Posted October 21, 2013 Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 Look at a VW Tiguan 4-motion too. I get about 37MPG if I drive hard, and 40-50 on the motorway driving 'normal'. If I drive like Ms Daisy on the motorway, i've had up to 56MPG. Mine is the 2.0L diesel 170PS. It's not 'proper' 4-wheel drive with a separate low gearbox etc - more like all-wheel drive - like what you would get on a BMW X3 or Audi Q5. The only downside of the Tiguan, is that the boot might be a bit small. Can fit gun in there, but has to go in diagonally - but it fits Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
four-wheel-drive Posted October 21, 2013 Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 When you think that BMW make some of the best rear wheel drive cars in the world also for several years they owned Land Rover so I would have thought had lots of information about making 4x4 vehicles it seems funny that there 4x4 is so pore off road. or was it never really intended to go off road but be a useful car to drive in the snow and have the advantage of being able to look down on the pore people in there little cars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbiep Posted October 21, 2013 Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 The problem is that they shove road-biased tyres on all of them, and then some idiots 'upgrade' to silly bling alloys, with ludicrous low-profile wide tyres. Cornering at speed on tarmac, those are perfect. And that is where all those cars spend 99% of their lives. But then again, those road-biased tyres also give better fuel economy for that 99% of the time. They only become a problem when people want to go and take the kids sledging in winter, and they find the car won't make it up a hill. I saw this last winter. Some muppet in a 2011 Q7 had slid off the road just up the hill from my house, and ended up in a ditch. The car had monster 22" rims, with 30 profile tyres, and yet he couldn't work out why he was stuck, and yet my 2003 Terrano was chugging past him with no difficulties at all. If you want a proper 4*4, then go buy one. But you won't get the fuel economy. Then again, I reckon an X3 with proper off-road tyres on it would be pretty capable. The fuel economy would drop from 40-45mpg to more like 30-35mpg though. Real off-road capability and fantastic fuel economy when on-road are not really feasible from 1 vehicle. You've got to sacrifice one for the other, to a large extent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aris Posted October 21, 2013 Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 I'd say the SUV type vehicles can go off-road, but they are more suited to on-road. There are distinct advantages to all-wheel drive on normal roads - particularly in adverse conditions. They also do well on unpaved roads - which isn't 'off-road', but certainly isn't on-road either and there are plenty of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamster Posted October 21, 2013 Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 Real off-road capability and fantastic fuel economy when on-road are not really feasible from 1 vehicle. You've got to sacrifice one for the other, to a large extent Exactly, no point ridiculing these cars since they will outdo your off road trucks in every other conceivable department - they are NOT meant for shooters who need to go off road but they will do OK with the right tyres. Also beware the X3 2.0 diesel won't return 40-45, ours only ever averaged 37 real world usage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thepasty Posted October 21, 2013 Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 (edited) Real off-road capability and fantastic fuel economy when on-road are not really feasible from 1 vehicle. You've got to sacrifice one for the other, to a large extent which is exactly why I have a car for on the road and a proper 4x4 for off road. I get the very best of both worlds... Edited October 21, 2013 by thepasty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbiep Posted October 21, 2013 Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 Exactly, no point ridiculing these cars since they will outdo your off road trucks in every other conceivable department - they are NOT meant for shooters who need to go off road but they will do OK with the right tyres. Also beware the X3 2.0 diesel won't return 40-45, ours only ever averaged 37 real world usage. Interestingly, my fuel economy for the X3 was based on when I owned one a few years ago. Manual box, but it used to average 40 mpg running around, and long motorway runs were 43-46. Thats the real figures too, not the optimistic trip computer. If the OP really needs a shooting 4*4, then I'd suggest they go and buy one. If they need a decent fuel economy car for everyday use, then buy one. But they are really likely to be buying 2 vehicles, not one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamster Posted October 21, 2013 Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 Interestingly, my fuel economy for the X3 was based on when I owned one a few years ago. Manual box, but it used to average 40 mpg running around, and long motorway runs were 43-46. Thats the real figures too, not the optimistic trip computer. If the OP really needs a shooting 4*4, then I'd suggest they go and buy one. If they need a decent fuel economy car for everyday use, then buy one. But they are really likely to be buying 2 vehicles, not one We once got 45 with a zero'd trip computer going to London and back doing near 180 miles in a day but that was mostly cruise control 6th gear motorway, believe me modern cars trip computers are extremely accurate so long as you leave them alone and take the true reading from month to month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.