BMW has launched its fourth Mini variant – the 1.4-litre turbocharged and intercooled One D with engine supplied by Toyota. The new model is distinguished from the petrol One (base version) by a larger front air intake, Cooper S-styled side mouldings, a concealed exhaust outlet and a prominent ‘D’ badge. Extra equipment includes a six-speed gearbox, traction counter and rev counter with external temperature gauge.
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‘On the road’ in the UK, the Mini One D is £11,390 compared with £10,405 for the entry-level petrol equivalent. For comparison, a Citroen C3 1.4Hdi LX, before the discount you won’t get on the wait-listed Mini, is £9,995, and Toyota’s cheapest diesel Yaris, with much the same engine as the Mini, is £8,365. On the other hand, the cheapest diesel BMW is the 320d Compact at £19,675.
This being a baby BMW in all but name, Mini One D standard equipment does not include air conditioning (a £500 option), at least in the UK home market, but does at least include power windows and keyless entry. For those who want more, there is the same vast option list as other Minis, which even demands owners pay extra for a decent interior lighting package. Still, with one UK owner silly enough to factory-option a Mini up to the £35,000 level, buyers are obviously still prepared to tolerate this. Look for extra standard equipment to be added once demand eventually begins to flag, though BMW has a cabriolet up its Oxford factory sleeve to counter that.
The compact four-cylinder Toyota engine has been re-engineered by BMW for use the Mini. Its second generation Bosch common rail direct-injection, turbocharger and intercooler gives a maximum power output of 75 bhp at 4000 rpm and torque of 180 Nm at just 2,000 rpm.
On-paper figures are none too impressive by petrol Mini standards but class-competitive: top speed is 103 mph and 0-62 mph (100km/h) is reached in 13.8 seconds. Acceleration from 50-75 mph in fourth gear takes 12.3 seconds.
The new variant is said to achieve average fuel consumption in the European official combined cycle of 58.9 mpg with a CO2 emission of 129 g/km. In urban traffic the car is said to record 48.7 mpg and in extra urban conditions 65.7 mpg.
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By GlobalDataHowever, there is growing anecdotal evidence that some Minis, especially the petrol-powered CVT automatic transmission version, get nothing like their ‘official’ fuel economy in ‘real world’ conditions so we’ll see what the glossy magazines achieve during instrumented road testing.
With a bore of 73 millimetres and piston stroke of 81.5 millimetres, engine displacement is 1364 cc and the compression ratio is 18.5:1. The crankcase and cylinder head are made of aluminium and the lightweight pistons run in wear-proof cylinder liners made of grey cast-iron. The four valves per cylinder are operated by followers running on an overhead camshaft that controls the charge cycle and that camshaft is driven by the crankshaft via a maintenance-free timing chain.
Two independent poly-V-belts drive the servo pump on the hydraulic power steering and the ancillaries such as the alternator, water pump and air conditioning compressor. The damper at the front end of the crankshaft serves to absorb the inherent, characteristic vibrations and minimise the transmission of vibrations to the belt drive. The two mass flywheel is claimed to act very efficiently at damping typical diesel vibrations at low engine speed.
There is an electric heater system to boost passenger compartment heating in winter and the first oil service interval has been extended to 15,000 miles (10,000 miles on petrol models) by the use of high performance oil and a sensor that monitors the level in the sump. In addition, the oil-burning Mini has an oil/water heat exchanger to maintain well-balanced thermal conditions to prevent the engine oil from ageing prematurely.
BMW GB recently told just-auto that it expects to sell 1,500 diesel Minis in the UK this year and around 6,000 in a full year. The best markets for the new model are expected to be in continental Europe where, in France for example, diesels account for up to half of all new car sales.
