Thinking of getting a D3, advice please

[MFM]

I'm looking into getting a D3 for my daily driver. I do an 80 mile round trip every day to work and back of which 70 miles are motorway and 10 miles are city driving.

Although I'd love to go for the 4.2l, I can't help but think the fuel consumption would be horrendous. I drive a BMW 530i at the moment and I barely get 22mpg as it is. So which of the smaller capacity engines are the most reliable and economic? Although I swore I'd never drive a diesel I might make an exception here.

Also, do they suffer from any major problems I should be looking out for when buying one?

 

[rad79]

Hi MFM,

I have been usung 4.2TDI D3 for 1.5 years now. 4.2 diesel has same power as petrol, is quicker 0-62mph and cheaper to drive. I would not even think about petrol version. They are cheap as no one is buying them!;-) There also is not much difference in mpg between 3.0TDI and 4.2TDI but you feel the extra 100BHP!

Fuel consuption, in the city trafic can be anything between 15 and 25mpg. In average I've got just over 20mpg. On motorway driving at around 80-85mph I've got 36-37mpg. Not bad for a V8

No major problems. During this 1.5 years I replaced one wishbone. That's it!

 

[Gary Winser-clinton]

I'm looking into getting a D3 for my daily driver. I do an 80 mile round trip every day to work and back of which 70 miles are motorway and 10 miles are city driving.

Although I'd love to go for the 4.2l, I can't help but think the fuel consumption would be horrendous. I drive a BMW 530i at the moment and I barely get 22mpg as it is. So which of the smaller capacity engines are the most reliable and economic? Although I swore I'd never drive a diesel I might make an exception here.

Also, do they suffer from any major problems I should be looking out for when buying one?

3.tdi best for fuel nice ride decent power

 

[rad79]

@Gary

4.2tdi and 3.0tdi has almost same mpg but difference in ride is huge, believe me! It changed a bit in newer model D4 where they installed 8-speed gearbox and 3.0tdi become much more responsive.