BMW USED CARS

This new 116d is the cheapest BMW diesel, the lowest-polluting and the most economical model
in the BMW range... it's also one of the best. In fact, it's one of the most
sorted hatches you can buy, full stop.

The 116 badge is the lowest of
all BMW monikers, but 116d does not mean 1.6 litres - this is the same
2.0-litre diesel lump that appears in the 118d, 120d and 123d, but here it
produces 116bhp and 140lb ft. That's down from 176bhp and 258lb ft in the 120d,
but the lower boost levels, coupled with the clever start-stop tech that's been
on BMWs for a while now, means that the fuel economy rises to 64.2mpg and CO2 falls to 118g/km.

Another month, another Audi. The Ingolstadt factory
is busier than ever right now, belching out new models as fast as its conveyor
belts can carry them. Audi sold over a million cars last year, and this A5
Sportback is the 33rd car to join the company's line-up. It's also the sixth to
share the A4/A5 platform.

So what is the A5 Sportback,
exactly? We will attempt to answer that as briefly as possible, but because
it's complicated, it might take nearly a billion words.

Curious car, this one. Despite a massive
temptation to ask just how such a thing ever made it past the idea stage, car
companies, particularly German ones, don't tend to make things that they
haven't already established someone will probably buy. Which means that, when
asked by the researcher with the clipboard and fixed smile, more than one
person must have said "Yes, actually, there is an X6 M shaped hole in my life".
Who these people are and what sort of lives they lead is anyone's guess but,
having driven the X6 M, I can only suggest that they are conflicted. Very
conflicted.

The last 740d was a 4.0 V8 diesel. Confusingly to
people outside BMW, the new 740d is not a V8, nor a 4.0-litre. Ah. Nope, the
new biggest diesel in the 7-Series range is a new super-efficient twin-turbo
straight-six, and it's a 3.0-litre block, but this time not derived from the
same 3.0-litre motor that you find in 30d and 35d versions elsewhere in the BMW
ranges.

Still with me? Right, explanation ahoy: this new
motor gets an all-aluminium crankcase and third-generation, common-rail fuel
injection that's good for 2,000 bar of pressure. Piezo injectors provide the
injection, and big pressure and fine control are good things. Higher pressure
means bigger bangs, control means more efficient burns, the pair bring better
power and economy.