Hi all, I am on the market for a replacement car for the wife. She is quite jealous of my 320d and wants a little 1-series to park next to it
We've settled on an LCI model, so 2015 onwards, probably a 2016 or 17 plate. She's not a petrolhead or fussed about blazing performance so a 116 or 118 would probably be fine.
The question is, do we go for the diesel or petrol engine? My wife does minimal miles, her daily commute is probably 3 miles, if that, and she rarely ventures out of town so I worry this would cause problems with the DPF on a diesel engine. On the other hand, I have an aversion to BMW petrol engines after a bad experience with a 2009 320i which was an absolute lemon. There also seems to be far less choice with the petrol engines on the used car market.
I'm aware of the problems of DPF's clogging and potentially being an expensive fix. However I've also read that modern BMWs can force a DPF regen by adding fuel to burn the soot off. I guess what I'm asking is, do modern BMW diesel engines negate the problem of not driving on long runs, or is it still very much an issue? Would a weekly or monthly run keep the DPF happy?
Thanks in advance for any advice!