I sold mine, and got an M135i. Nothing wrong with my old 120d, I just didn't need the fuel economy any more and wanted an upgrade.

The only thing you might want to check into, is the lifetime of the turbos. Otherwise mine was pretty robust.

 

Is the turbo much of a problem, to be honest I've not trawled the BMW forums as did that before with the Vectra and Civic which sometimes gets scary when the same 'usual' problems come up some of which I had and some of which I didn't so really wanted ideas of people from this forum since we all seem pretty much to the point and don't over hype things (with a few exceptions).

Did you have any turbo issues chilled?

 

Nope, nothing went wrong at all. A new set of tyres. A tiny bit of oil. But was probably the most reliable and easy to maintain car I've ever had. My M135i requires more oil than the 120d did.

 

I've still got mine-I've had it for ~18 months. Its been a good ownership so far.

Good things: fuel economy, as you'd expect I suppose. Power-enough on tap, combined with the torque means overtaking etc is easy. Its cheap to run too. Its also quite fun to drive around country roads.

Bad things: My stop-start has stopped working. First gear is too short-I'd like to try an auto if I were to get another 120d or 123d. The lack of a slip diff means the rear wheels don't enjoy gravel, loose tarmac or wet man hole covers. Back seats are a little small for adults on long journeys. Boot is also a bit small, but the rear seats fold flat giving you loads of space.

No specific buying advice really-they're pretty bomb proof with few common problems. Overall I think the 120d is a great little car, especially in M Sport guise. Its very quick compared with the A3 TDi or GTD equivalent.

 

Ah yes, first gear in traffic in the manual is pretty awful. Crawl speed is faster than everyone else, so you have to slip the clutch, which I hate doing.

 

Cheers for the replies. Am now the proud owner of a mint low mileage 118d, got to admit was disappointed with the lack of power but is for the other half who I think will end up remapping it when she realizes how much she misses the S2000 but the S is now going to be retired to garage princess status then slowly stripped and overhauled over the next couple of years so watch this space.

 

I'm in the market for either a 120d or 123d, but leaning towards the 123d cos it's faster. My commute has recently changed and I'm afraid the S will have to go I'd appreciate any sort of opinions from you guys which might sway my opinion, or even some alternatives.

 

Way not a 325d it'll be cheaper that's if you want an e92, it's still silky smooth 6 cylinder and they remap well will be as fast as the 123d.

 

I've looked at the 3 series, but it's a much bigger car, too big for my current needs really.

 

consider the mileage and type of commute

how quickly will you rack up stellar miles?

For my commute i wanted comfort, good stereo, good heater / aircon and cheap as chips

tyres, fuel etc...

get the 118 is my advice therefore. we used a Golf GTD and Vectra DTi.. the golf was superb but the vec was cheap as chips