E87 Dilemma

Hi everyone,

I’m a young engineer from Portugal and I recently landed my first job. Currently, my daily driver is a 2010 BMW 116i (E87 LCI) with the N43B20 engine. It has around 163,000 km (approx. 100k miles).

I treat this car as my biggest asset. It sits on 18" wheels, looks great, and I’m meticulous about maintenance. I know the history of this car, and I’ve already addressed the biggest pain point of the N43 engine: I recently replaced the injectors with brand new OEM BMW ones**.** It cost a fortune, but the engine is running perfectly now.

Here is the dilemma: fuel in Portugal is very expensive, and my current city driving consumption is hovering around 9.0 - 9.5 L/100km (roughly 25-26 MPG), which hurts my wallet. I get serious "mpg envy" when I see 118d/120d owners getting amazing fuel economy and having way more torque than my naturally aspirated 2.0L. I found myself browsing used 118d/120d models, but the market here is crazy. A 2010 118d with 240,000 km (150k miles) costs around €10,000 ($10.8k). To make things worse, dealers are offering me peanuts for my car as a trade-in, meaning I’d have to put down significant cash to get into a diesel with much higher mileage.

I'm torn between the emotional and the rational side. The devil on my shoulder is telling me to get the diesel because the torque is addictive and the fuel economy is great. However, the engineer side of my brain is screaming that I’m crazy to consider this trade. I’d be swapping a lower mileage petrol car that I know inside out—especially now that I’ve sorted the expensive injectors—for a high-mileage N47 diesel engine that is notorious for snapping timing chains. I feel like I’d be paying a premium to downgrade my reliability just to save a few euros at the pump, potentially risking a €3,000 repair bill if the chain or turbo lets go on the diesel.

Has anyone here made this switch? Is the N47 timing chain fear exaggerated at this mileage, or am I walking into a financial trap? Deep down, I feel I should just keep my 116i and ignore the fuel consumption, but the "upgrade bug" is biting hard.

Thanks for the advice!

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