| Long Term Test | BMW 123d M Sport Coupé |
Been anywhere interesting?
The last month of our time with the 123d has ended up being its busiest, with the final trip also being the longest. More than 1,000 miles passed under the wheels in a single weekend. I boarded the ferry to Holyhead in Wales and made two stop offs to pick up other members of the team before rushing to Folkestone for a crossing on the Eurotunnel. The reason for such an epic trip? Le Mans of course. Twelve hours after leaving home we rumbled into our campsite a few miles from the famous circuit.
Despite the lack of rear doors, the Coupé was pressed into ferry service for the weekend, regularly transporting a bunch of us to various parts of the circuit, before the long, tiring trip back to the office on Monday morning. Needless to say, the car coped rather better than its occupants did…
Anything stand out...?
The range. The trip to Le Mans coincided with the tanker driver strike in Britain, so I was a little anxious that we'd find fuel easily on the drive from Wales to Kent. I filled up in Dublin and despite making rapid progress all day, the 123d didn't need more fuel until we were well south of Calais. That's nearly 450 miles of fast driving, which, as previously reported, the 1 Series Coupé is more than capable of. It seemed particularly apt given that the leading cars at Le Mans were diesel powered.
The Le Mans event draws not just the crowds, but also the cars. Porsche 911s and Ferrari F430s are actually quite common in and around the area, and I even spotted a Bugatti Veyron in convoy with a Ferrari Enzo. In amongst all this exotica you wouldn't think that the little BMW would get a look in, but we discovered that actually, it sparked huge interest. Loads of car nuts took the time to give it a good look over, with several actually taking pictures of it.
...and for the wrong reasons?
We had little to complain about on this trip. Sure, the engine is noisier than a petrol alternative, but the economy more than compensates for that. If I was buying this car, I would definitely fit cruise control - it's the only glaring omission from the car's specification, and really should be standard with the 123d engine.
Where next?
Back to BMW sadly. After the Le Mans journey, I felt a little sadness as I transferred all my worldly goods into my new VW Polo BlueMotion long termer. It was then I realised how filthy the BMW was after our weekend, so we quickly enlisted the local valet to put that right. That in itself revealed a few battle scars from the weekend, but nothing that a decent polish won't sort out. The car's still almost as good as new and we're very sorry to see it go.
