What's best fabia vrs or 118d bmw ?

[TriggerFish]

Surely you know the reputation of BMW drivers ......... !!!!!!??????? I wouldn't be seen in one.

There's a lot of people on the BMW forums saying the same thing about Skodas . . .

[Matt Gibson]

BMW= worth more, parts more expensive? Vrs= wayyyy better fun, and your swapping for a slower car?!

my mate has a 1 series diesel and he wanted to have a little "who's is faster", you should have seen his face when I stormed past him, was a picture!

[C13URD]

I had a 118D m sport in 2009 & it was a fantastic car fully loaded & drove like a drean just very very skitty on the rear end... as the others have said swap see how you get on if you decide its not your cup of tea just sell it you'l get more for it than the fabia... you can always then buy another fabia if you want.. ive also owned an audi a3 2.0 tdi 140 & i prefered that to the beemer as it was front wheel drive. would still have that now if i hadn't been made redundant in 2010.... your choice.. good luck..

[lannen55]

Cheers for the replies , I'm just after summit along the same running costs and I'm not to bothered about speed as I'm more into my bikes for that , I've had my fabia on eBay 3 times now and no one seems to want it, top and bottom of it is I just fancy a change and just wanted to know people's thoughts on the bmw and the fabia .

[Guest BigJase88]

Well swap it then!

Facepalm!

Its a complete no brainer to me

And as for not driving a bmw thats just pathetic...

Try it you might like it! I like driving my folks x5 and shunting poor skoda owners out of the bmw lane

[Holmesie]

just a thought how many bmws have you seen foxed by poor weather vs fabias ? ive seen a fair few bm's struggling recently

[Guest BigJase88]

You could say the same for any rwd car tbh

[TriggerFish]

That's not me - but I've been fine, mostly. Sheet ice on a hill didn't go too well though.

[Seanl]

• Most of those, whilst also being on summer/all weather tyres, obviously don't know how to drive in the snow for ****! You don't get more traction by spinning up ffs!
  

[TriggerFish]

No, it's not great driving, but it does show that they can work in the snow at least.

[Hughp]

Now if i had a BMW 1d i would definetly have to invest in some winter tyers.

That said it is a long time since i have had a rear wheel drive car, but driving in the snow was so much fun on the country roads of Lincolnshire.

Can i ask, which car has the better reliability record BMW 1d or VRS(tdi) ?

[Guest BigJase88]

well the fabia doesnt have the best reliability to be fair

brake pedal switches

broken alternator load sensor wire's

window regulators

coolant temp sensors and thermostats

leaky door seals

suspect kkk turbo's

weak dual mass flywheels and weak clutches

console bushes

weak diff rivets on gearbox

I think at some time or another i've replaced or fixed all of these issues over the 2 fabia vrs's ive owned,

[joe_vrs_tdi]

Who cares about driving in the snow its not around for long.

[lannen55]

i have a freelander td4 i use in this weather so rwd not really an issue to be fair

[Big deano]

Fabia has more room fact bm boots are rubbish **** in the snow or rain or damp . Rip off dealers but unlike the fabias less " common problems" IDE say Beemer

[Benjiman]

I had a 118d as a courtesy car for a while when my Vrs had a little bump a few years back.

A nice place to sit, with lots of cool toys - I especially liked the front & rear parking sensors. I even considered chopping in my Vrs at the time for one, I liked it that much.

However, when I got my Vrs back, there was simply no competition, my mind was made up within a few miles of driving mine again - the Furby stays! Just so much more fun, with bags of character. The BMW was very competent, but was just dull, and didn't have anywhere near as much grunt as my little fab.

Just my experience of them both. Your call tho dude, but I always reckon better the devil you know when not 100% sure on something.

[Kyle_vrs]

I'm not a fan of BMW anyway but in my opinion they are overpriced and over rated. As for which is more reliable nearly every 3 series I mot needs the bottom arm back bushes replacing and alot have rear suspension bushes go. Not sure on 1 series to be honest but I think a lot of people over rate the reliability. If you like it swap but don't if your not 100%. I'd sooner keep the fabia

[Gizmo]

Why is your mate selling the BM? Is it just because he is fed up of locking it up and walking everywhere when it snows? (yes they are that bad in the snow on std tyres), if so then you can possibly grab a bargain, not sure what the 118 goes for but it must be better than any Fabia surely?

Non of the BM’s I have owned (owned 6 of them) have been base model ones and they were all cheap to maintain… even the E30 M3 was.

You are obviously needing a change from the vRS and if the power is nothing you will miss then the BM seems an ideal upgrade to me, go for it.

[Adam_]

In my opinion (which doesn't mean a great deal)

The BMW is just like a MINI.................There bummer cars!

Edited 23 January, 2013 by Adam_

[TriggerFish]

IAs for which is more reliable nearly every 3 series I mot needs the bottom arm back bushes replacing and alot have rear suspension bushes go. Not sure on 1 series to be honest but I think a lot of people over rate the reliability.

The suspension is terrible, and widely regarded as being so on the 3s.

That said, I've never seen a 'Help! My Fabia is clonking' type thread on here.

Might also be worth checking if the 118d has swirl flaps - if so, get them removed!

Edited 23 January, 2013 by TriggerFish

[Gizmo]

Might also be worth checking if the 118d has swirl flaps - if so, get them removed!

Pretty sure the 118D doesn’t have them, it’s the 2.0+ diesels that get them.

Even if it had they would probably of been ingested by now

[vRSAnt]

Well now lets see how I fair, maybe I'm just lucky ? 100K miles

Sum cost of all that ? £182 outside of normal wear and tear items and 6 yrs use !!

Yeah course Fabias are so unrealiable...what ??

well the fabia doesnt have the best reliability to be fair

brake pedal switches NOPE

broken alternator load sensor wire's YEP. FIXED IT MYSELF FOR FREE.

window regulators NOPE

coolant temp sensors and thermostats JUST THE HEADER, £12

leaky door seals OK ADMITTEDLY. REPAIR IS FREE AS I DO IT MYSELF

suspect kkk turbo's NOT YET

weak dual mass flywheels and weak clutches NOT DONE YET !!

console bushes OK ADMITTEDLY, COST £170 ALL IN

weak diff rivets on gearbox AINT BROKE YET !

I think at some time or another i've replaced or fixed all of these issues over the 2 fabia vrs's ive owned,

Bavarian mondeos

Sorry but I just don't see them as being that desirable that warrants all the attention they get, but if it makes you happy thats up to you.

I'd be just as happy in some other run of the mill saloon not being badge specific. If I was looking for something really stylish and suggesting aspiration/wealth it would be a Lexus.

Every muppet and every chav seems to have a beemer nowadays and would rather not be associated with them lol

[Guest BigJase88]

Yes they are common faults doesnt mean every car is going to have issues but all faults ive mentioned are well known issues

[vRSAnt]

I'm pretty sure that BM will be running a similar kind of list to that....grass is greener etc...and just adding my viewpoint that list has been a complete non-issue for me.

I doubt that Skoda suffer from Friday car syndrome to explain that and also doubt that I've been just lucky. I imagine the truth is in the middle there but just clarifying my perspective to suggest reliability issues is a tad rich ... given they top the customer reliability surveys - ABOVE BM lol

[lannen55]

think i might just try my vrs on ebay again and hope it goes as deep down im after an audi a3/a4 tdi originaly