Looking at 35d and 40d but are they worth extra money

[Mr black]

Hi
Currently starting to look at the E70.
Seems to be plenty 30d but drawn to either a 35d or 40d are they worth the extra cash they seem to be?

Thanks in advance

[X5Sport]

The 40d is just a newer generation 35d with asymmetric turbocharging (1 large, 1 small).  The big difference is lower emissions, better economy and the 8sp gearbox plus improved iDrive (CIC instead of CCC unless you get a very late built 35d).

If you can, I would go for a 40d.  All are still 3-litre engines of course but the later 40d version is the best to drive IMHO.

[Mr black]

Thank you for that

[celica]

Budget will be main deciding factor

I’ve got the 35d and my family member has the facelift 3.0d

Newer model makes up for it with the 8 speed box on a day to day, but if you want pure grunt, for overtaking or a bit more spirited drive the older 35d wins. Ie on the motorway with 50mph controller area and up to national speed limit the 35d would kick down and go go go, whilst the 3.0d in feel felt like it ran out of steam

In an ideal world 40d would be best

Then again if I could choose a f15 3.0d over a e70 40d I probably would

[NehalX5]

40d engine is the same basic architecture as the 35d engine. Both have a smaller and a large turbo working in sequence. 40d engine uses the N57 engine which arguably isn't as reliable as the M57 engine, there has been some reported chain issues, which are especially difficult to solve with the timing chain now at the back of the engine, as compared to the front.

We were faced with a LCI 8 speed 30d SE or a Pre-LCI 3.0sd M-Sport with options. The pre-LCI had more options so we went for that. Now they are different engines, but personally for me pre-LCI is better only if there is considerably more options. Our 3.0sd has the Professional Hi-Fi system which is great, yet the LCI 30d did have a newer iDrive but also had half electric seats! In a £50k car! Twin turbo setup is much more thrilling too.

Only get the 40d if it has good options, e.g. comfort seats, heated seats, Hi-Fi system, cameras. The difference in MPG is marginal with the 8-speed vs 6-speed, both gearboxes are very good anyway. Fact is, these have more powerful engines and are more likely to be driven a bit more aggressively, so the MPG gains from the 8 speed are negligible, but that is entirely down to driving style

[Mr black]

That’s great thanks.
It’s getting more complicated every time I look at them. Basically we are in the market for an x5 or x6 up to 17k
Trying to get fullbmw history latest nav etc and definitely twin turbo. I fancied 8 speed but if the n57 engine  has chain issues that maybe could push me to an older model.
Awkward where to post with us looking at both.

Thanks again

[X5Sport]

I think we have only had one TC issue reported on here with the N57 engine, and that unit is on all 3.0 lumps from July 2009 onwards.  It wasn’t clear exactly what caused this single incident either.

[Lyons]

Am I right in thinking the engine unit itself in the Lci 30d and 40d is the same, it’s just the 40d has twin turbos? Therefore the 40d shouldn’t be any more (or less) prone to TC failures than the 30d?

[X5Sport]

Basically the same block with a different tune state and maybe minor tweaks.  Twin turbo is the N57S, single turbo in the N57.  Triple turbo N57X.

[Lyons]

Out of interest, what mpg are 40d owners averaging?

[alan996]

I did holyhead to penrith return recently (500 miles) and managed 28mpg.

It was pretty much all at 120kmh (75 mph) so it's not too bad for a heavy bus...

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

[snrbrtsn]

Short stop start journeys in town will easily see circa 19mpg
Continual journeys in town circa 24mpg

Out on the open road, anywhere between 29 & 34mpg, a bit of difference if driven at 68mph as opposed to circa 74mph

[Lyons]

Crikey, I sort of hoped for 30 on average!

[pvr]

My E70 40D did around 34 mpg on the trips to the continent, cruising at 130 km/h.

I only ever used my 40d on the longer trips though, never on city driving so do not have the mpg values for that. Worst was 30, best 36.

Lifetime mpg when I sold the car with 30k on it was 31.2 mpg.

[Graeme]

Hello,

Mine's not an 4.0d but an early E70 3.0d so I hope these comments help.

I've done 144,000 miles. The best I ever got was 36.1 on a trip from the north east to Surrey.  Over time the consumption has fallen from 30 to 28, but my pattern of driving has changed since I retired to fewer longish trips and more short ones.  Current consumption since the last service 6000 miles ago is 27.9, including 3 long trips each of 600 miles and about 400miles towing a caravan. The best I've had towing is 25.4 in August from here to Switzerland via the Rhine Valley - where caravans have to stick with lorries at 56mph on the miles and miles of no overtaking parts of the autobahn.

I echo the comment above about driving speed.  Sitting at about 65mph allows the consumption needle to swing left, but driving at 70 pushes it past zero to the right more often than not - and consumption drops alarmingly!!!

Graeme