Picked up my 123d. My Opinion & Questions

[SCZ4]

Hi everyone.

I've been using this site for research purposes so thought it would only be fair to write something which will hopefully be useful to someone.

So.... I was looking to sell my Superchared Z4 3.0 and E36 M3 Evo (Euro 321 bhp not US version) running just one car, a 135i. However after a couple of test drives and despite being amazed by its outright pace, it just didn't excite or have the character like the M3 does. So updated the master plan to keep the M3 for trackdays, Nurburgring trips etc and get something economical for the day to day stuff, but still fun.

This is where the 123d M Sport roles in and boy does it fill the role perfectly. It's quick, economical, fairly practical, looks great and most importantly RWD. This is my first modern diesel and I am very impressed how things have moved on, the twin turbo setup eliminates turbo lag. I picked her up with just 2700 miles on the clock and saved £10,500 on the new price . Got her from a dealership in London and drove her 580 miles back up the north of Scotland. Done around 700 miles now. Car has 18" rims, folding mirrors, tinted windows, heated seats, leather seats, ipod kit & comfort package.

Two questions.
1) Can I set the car up so it automatically locks when I pull off, but not when unlocked and left unattended. Can just see my unlocking the car, throwing the keys on the seat before loading the bike on the roof and hearing the car lock up
2) What sort of mileage do these engines really start to loosen up for power and fuel consumption?

To save putting you guys to sleep I'll bullet point everything, any suggestions on problems would be great.

Positives
- 3 door looks much better than the 5 door, especially in Le Mans blue and M Sport kit
- Interior - Fantastic place to be, very good quality, comfortable, simple but has everything you need, quiet on the move, love the adjustable side bolsters.
- Great mid range, no turbo lag at all. Very nippy, hopefully got a lot more to come.
- Handles really well, steering is a little artifically heavy though. Loads of rear end grip even in the wet.
- Ride quality is perfect, good dampening. BMW have come a long way the suspension setup and run flat tyres, Z4 was terrible.
- Sound system, standard system better than I thought, but not good enough.
- Good boot size especially with the seats folded down.

Negatives
- Display for ipod on Business Head Unit is very poor, only display 10 characters or so.
- MPG varies a lot with just 10mph difference on motorway. Not talking silly speeds here.
- Still only averaging 46mpg on a 580 mile motorway trip home. Hope it will improve with miles, car only done 3k miles. What do you think?
- Need to stretch just to reach functions on the centre console furtherest from the driver seat. Very poor design.
- Could be user error, but when I stall it ops: do you need to remove the guy and start again? Got stuck in the middle of a roundabout.
- Hard to keep car at a steady speed on the motorway, sensitive throttle.

Problems
- Gear Lever Vibrates a lot on idle and low rpm
- Engine light came on the other night, after flooring it through the gears, just orange thankfully and hasn't come back on since.
- Sometimes can smell something "burning" I step out the car and it's not the brakes. Clutch maybe?
- Head Unit sometimes loses it's bass\treble settings.
- All four hubs\rotors have surface corrosion on them where they meet the wheel. I feel it lets the car down, especially with the open wheels. Can these be replaced under warranty? Personally I'd prefer if BMW would power cost them black.

Future Mods
- Roof bars with bike racks to save damaging the interior
- Alpine kit audio upgrade
- Replace the dash trim with the aluminium accent trim (think that's what it's called, anyone want to swap? )
- Pro Head Unit for better ipod display
- Fit Cruise Control

Woke up the next day looking forward to giving her a good clean and polish

[Justabanana]

"- Sometimes can smell something "burning" I step out the car and it's not the brakes. Clutch maybe?"

I'd wager it's the diesel particulate filter.
I haven't noticed it in mine, but many people who drive dpf'd cars report a burning smell every now and then. The dpf needs to regenerate regularly and it heats up during the process.
I'd guess the dpf in this car is no different than in other diesels, if someone knows better please correct.

To question 1): Instructions manual helps with this. Put the key in and press start without pressing pedals (so the car doesn't start). Then browse the options with the little switch in the indicator switch. You'll find a lock symbol there. (this is about how I did it, can't remember by heart obviously.)

Don't feel sorry that you can't wash it. Forget cleaning, deactivate DTC and go have fun... (responsibly of course xD) driftdrift >>

[Choclove23]

"- Hard to keep car at a steady speed on the motorway, sensitive throttle. "

I recommend the Cruise Control function.

[123D-M]

Congrats on the 123d. It's a great engine.

My gear lever vibrates at idle as well. I think it is just a symptom of being diesel. Don't worry about it.

The corrosion on the wheels inside is annoying me too. I have a different style wheel 261M but it is still very open. Mine aren't rusting yet but I saw a car at the testing centre that was. I plan to get them powdercoated in silver if they start to rust so that they look original.

Enjoy the snow! We don't get nice snow like that here in Belgium

[iastute]

Congratulations on your 123d SCZ4!!! That's the color I like...

[Jonnie5]

Depending on which key fob you use each one remembers the settings for all the bc control, radio, mirrors and seats etc. So when you use key fob 1 it uses the settings that were last stored then when your wife uses key fob 2 it switches to the settings last stored with that key fob. Batteries are self charging when in the ignition so remember to swap keys if you are the only driver so you charge the spare key.

[ChuckB]

Negatives

- MPG varies a lot with just 10mph difference on motorway. Not talking silly speeds here.
The BMW Deisels do seem to VERY sensitive to speed, crosiing the 150km marks yeilds a noticale drop in mileage.


- Still only averaging 46mpg on a 580 mile motorway trip home. Hope it will improve with miles, car only done 3k miles. What do you think?
Should improve all the way up to 6,0000 miles, mine did

Let me know when you head out for the Ring....


Problems
- Gear Lever Vibrates a lot on idle and low rpm
I think all the dieels do this, mine does as well

- Engine light came on the other night, after flooring it through the gears, just orange thankfully and hasn't come back on since.
It does this to my wife once a month on her daily 70 mile [each way] commute, as she puts it, she is able to outrun it [just like you did]

- Sometimes can smell something "burning" I step out the car and it's not the brakes. Clutch maybe?
Look at the DPF, make sure you get everything fuuly up to temp once a week.

- All four hubs\rotors have surface corrosion on them where they meet the wheel. I feel it lets the car down, especially with the open wheels. Can these be replaced under warranty? Personally I'd prefer if BMW would power cost them black.
Common across all BMWs, wait till summer, lightly sand and paint them silver. BMW says this has no effect on the "fitness for purpose" and while the dealer might clean them up, BMW won't touch them.

[Teigland]

The hub corosion is a general problem with all cars, and not just these. will happen on every car given enough time.

The locking itself will not happen if you unlock the car and open a door, just if no doors are opened, and it will not lock itself with the key inside, just if something on the inside locks it.