BMW 120d 2006 Review

BMW has come late to the diesel passenger car party Down Under. Audi and Mercedes-Benz have both beaten Beemer to the punch -- Volkswagen and the French marques were even quicker.

Last year saw the addition of the impressive 3.0-litre inline six-cylinder turbodiesel to the 5 Series range. Already a hit in the X offroaders, the revised 160kW oiler has won friends in the executive saloon. Its critical acclaim since release has no doubt contributed to BMW's decision to offer four-cylinder turbodiesels in both the 3 and 1 Series ranges.

Audi and VW's conspicuous success with their small diesel-powered cars were clearly the clinchers.

The first of the BMW four-cylinder turbodiesels arrived this week in the shape of the 120d.

While BMW will officially 'launch' the 320d in South Australia in June, the 120d's arrival heralded less fanfare. Softly, softly, BMW provided the new 120ds as transport for motoring hacks to and from its M-car 'Blast' around Phillip Island (see CarPoint next week for more details) and let the new engine do the torquing...

The route from inner Melbourne to the Island involves mainly freeway and open highway -- hardly a definitive test of a new car. Nonetheless, it was sufficient to give us a taste of the new turbodiesel.

The short version? First impressions are good.

Indeed, the 120d's 2.0-litre DOHC four-cylinder diesel is a thoroughly modern unit that offers the smoke and rattle-free (well, almost) performance modern diesel buyers demand. It features high-pressure common rail electronic injection and gets goodies like the latest computer-controlled variable geometry turbocharger. It's intercooled -- like virtually 100 per cent of its competitors -- and features a multi-phase injection cycle for lower emissions and more oomph.

And it's this mighty little mill's power and torque production that will account for most of the words written on the 120d. The rest of the package is pure 120i -- not that there's anything wrong with that. Save for the tight rear accommodations of the 1 Series (and the price of BMW's options -- $300 for an antidazzle read vision mirror and $1300 for metallic paint, per-leeeze!) it remains one of our favourite small cars and still ranks as one of the best handlers on the market.

No, in this case it's all about the engine -- the most powerful four-cylinder car engine BMW offers Down Under. Yes, you read right: the 120d's engine out-powers and significantly out-torques its petrol equivalent. With 115kW at 4000rpm it is 5kW up on the 120i. Its peak torque figure of 330Nm (at 2000rpm) swamps the 120i (200) and betters even the six-cylinder 130i (315).

While it wasn't that long ago that you had to sacrifice performance for diesel economy, cars like the 120d look set to deliver the best of both worlds. In the case of the 120d you end up with not only a more frugal car (we recorded around 5.5lt/100km during our admittedly short drive) but one that's quicker and faster than its petrol equivalent -- 0-100km/h in 8.5sec and a top speed of 215km/h versus 9.2sec and 213km/h according to BMW's own figures.

Once rolling the performance difference is even more marked. Mated to BMW's excellent six-speed Steptronic autobox (there are no manual 120/320ds coming Down Under) the turbodiesel provides deceptively quick highway cruising and overtaking. In the cut and thrust of peak hour freeway traffic it's also better than the petrol car.

We'll take a punt and say it'll be better in the twisties too. Usable torque is what this engine is all about; weight is unchanged and thanks to the engine's lightweight construction so is BMW's famed 50:50 weight distribution.

There's a touch more combustion clatter at start-up and when idling than, say, BMW's own diesel six, but the aural signature is on a par with VW's TDi and less tractor-like than Alfa's JTD. Once moving it's a very quiet mill that seems to gather speed rapidly rather than spin into like. It is clearly quicker than the petrol 120 just don't expect any revvy tunes.

Peak torque at 2000rpm corresponds with road speed of around 110km/h and it's easy to find yourself drifting up into the licence-losing range, such is the effortless nature of the little car's gait. As noted above we easily returned 5.5lt/100km -- better than BMW's own claimed combined figure of 6.6lt/100km.

Though you might not pay at the pump for the 120d's extra urge, you will pay in the showroom. At $47,800 the 120d's a solid $3000 more than the auto-equipped 120i and $5200 more than the manual petrol 2.0-litre.

With diesel fuel still more expensive than petrol Down Under, you'll have to do plenty of miles to justify the extra expense on economic grounds. Our guess is that the payback period won't be high on the agenda of most 120d buyers.

Like our European cousins, we Aussies are switching on to the torque-rich pleasures of modern turbodiesels. Cars like the 120d are only going to accelerate the trend.

BMW reckons the 120d will account for around 20 per cent of 1 Series sales from here on in. Our final judgment will have to wait for a more comprehensive test drive, but our guess is they're being conservative...