The BMW 320d is probably all the car anyone could ever want. It’s quick enough, with its 187 hp and 295 lb-ft of torque, it’s quiet and smooth and it’s even economical. In fact, according to WhatCar?, the BMW 320d is more efficient and economical than its main competition — the Jaguar XE 2.0d and the Mercedes-Benz C220d.
According to tests from WhatCar?, the BMW 320d gets an average of 51.7 mpg, which is just a touch more than the Mercedes C220d’s 51 even. The Jaguar XE, which is everyone’s new favorite sports sedan, equipped with its diesel engine manages 51.6, just losing out to the Bimmer. Now, BMW typically doesn’t use mpg numbers as its bragging rights, as that wouldn’t befit the “Ultimate Driving Machine”. But these numbers do matter nowadays.
Buying a diesel engine in a sports sedan is only done because the customer wants to have a fun, sporty and luxurious sedan while also returning some decent mpgs. This customer isn’t too concerned with performance numbers, but more with frugality, otherwise they’d have gone with the BMW 328i, which isn’t much more expensive but a helluva lot faster, though much less efficient. So buying a 320d is attempting to have your cake and eat it, too.
What’s most impressive about the BMW 320d out-gaining its competition is the fact that it’s actually the more powerful than those two aforementioned cars. This makes the 320d the fastest car to 60 mph as well as the most economical, even by just a bit. This makes the 320d the best compromise between performance and economy, even better than everyone’s favorite Jaaaag. Plus, the BMW 320d is the second most fun car to drive, behind said Jaguar, so there’s really nothing it does wrong.
We’ve talked about it before, how the BMW 320d is pretty much all the car you’d ever need. We’ve even seen other reports claiming the same thing from esteemed motoring journalists like Jeremy Clarkson and Chris Harris. This economy test only further cements that theory and proves that if you need a fun, practical, comfortable, quick and economical premium sport sedan, it’s hard to look past the BMW 320d. Sure the Jag is better looking and might be a touch more fun in the twisty parts of the road and the Merc is probably more comfortable, with a nicer interior, but if you want the most well-rounded package of the three, you have to go BMW.
[Source: ChronicleLive]
