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      04-24-2012, 01:22 PM   #1
dafila
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Drives: BMW F20 116D Sport
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Belgium

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116D EfficientDynamics Review

Hey guys,

Recently I ordered a 116D ED as company car, because of the good CO2 exhaust; it’s a great deal here in Belgium. I was not able to test drive the ED version because it was not available yet. So I test drove the normal 116D which I found very good ride.

Because of the low CO2 exhaust on the ED and the high mpg the the monthly lease price was very good and I was able to take quite an amount of options (Sports Line, Rain sensor, Light sensor, Xenon lights, Sun protection pack, Navigation Business, Handsfree Bluetooth, Harman Kardon sound system). In Belgium and the Netherlands you can even take Sports or Urban line, although only with the 16” wheels.

A week or so after ordering I read some findings of a guy who just received his ED and was very negative about it. He said the second gear was terrible and he compared the 80-120km/h differences which is quite a lot; in 4th gear about 1,5 seconds difference due to the longer gear ratio. I was quite scared that I made the wrong choice.

I was asking around on the forums and got some decent feedback from some recent owners. I still was not really convinced so I phoned BMW Belgium to see if there was an ED available yet somewhere. They told me : “We’ll have one mid May”. Dammit! Since then I’ve been looking for more reviews but none to find…

Today I finally found a dealer that even has 2 as demo cars. I was able to test drove it today. First thing I did was check the documents for the right co2 numbers . And yes, it was an ED model. So I went for a 45min test drive. Luckily the traffic was not too bad to so I could test the car. The car pulls quite well and I stopped a few times at the crossroads to test the 2nd gear. I admit It’s not the best but I wouldn’t have felt anything if I would be paying attention to it.

Then I went for the main roads and the highway. The car was in Comfort mode. Felt very nice and the car pulled nicely towards 170km/h, then I stopped because of the traffic. But I’m sure It will do more . Accelerating again from 80-120km/h is fine, although you sometimes have to drop a gear, but then the engine is very sharp at accelerating again.

After the highways I went to some quitter roads and put it Sport mode. The throttle is quite responsive now and feels very refined. It pulls very well, you just have to shift quite rapidly. When I had to take a U-turn the car even drifted at the rear wheels (it was wet), so the power is there!
After returning the car I was quite happy that I finally was able to do a test ride. The fear that the engine would be terrible is gone now and I’m very happy to receive it the end of May!

I know some people here have got the same doubt as I had. I hope they are also relieved now!

Greetz!
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