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[The Questioner]

Diesel Owners...

If one was to be looking for a diesel forfour, what should one be looking for??

is 60k + mileage an issue??

why are there 2 types of diesel forfour and whats the difference??

etc etc etc

The Q

[Ferrina]

Hi there.

As with all cars, if it's been serviced regularly and looked after, diesels with high mileage are fine.

There are two engine outputs, 68 and 95bhp. Both engines are identical in everyway apart from the ECU map. You can map both engines from 95 to 135bhp through some indie tuners.

The 95 CDi has a red "i" on the tailgate badge, the 68bhp is all silver.

The semi-auto gearboxes are very good, but my manual is very slick as well.

Hope that helps? My car has 55k on the clock and perfect...... interested?

[CrazyG]

60k + mileage should not be an issue, providing the car has been serviced and
had the oil and filter/s changed regularly.  (Ferrina's car would make someone a nice buy)

The diesel engine is a 3 cylinder 1.5 litre unit, and was based on the Mercedes Benz
4 cylinder 2.0 litre 'A' Class engine....they just simply removed one cylinder,
but in so doing they created the most powerful diesel engine of it's class !
And it still is to this day, which is quite an achievement.

As quite rightly stated by ferrina there are 2 variants available, 68hp and 95hp. (HP, not BHP)
Mechanically there are no difference between either of them. It's all in the ECU mapping, so do
not dismiss a 68hp car if it has all the right spec/gizmo's/gadget's etc that you are looking for.
Both engines' ECU's can be re-mapped easily. The 68 can be mapped up to 95 and beyond if desired.
Reliability is not an issue with re-mapping, as there are plenty of members on here and elsewhere
who have had their engines re-mapped and can testify to the reliability AND the fact that economy
has in no way suffered. In fact a remap can actually reduce fuel consumption if driven in the same
manner as it was before !

So what else then....well even if kept as standard, a change of air filter to a more free flowing type
such as ITG, K&N, Pipercross, BMC etc is highly recommended whether one has a re-map or not.
A change of the rear silencer to a less restrictive design, such as Remus (stainless steel) or a Brabus
(nearly twice the price, but mild steel) will also reap rewards.
But, for the same cost of a Brabus rear silencer one can have a custom stainless steel system made
with a Sports CAT and a lifetime guarantee !

As ferrina also points out, there are 2 choices of transmission, semi-auto and manual.
Mine is a 6 speed 'softouch' semi-auto, and ferrina's is 5 speed manual.  The semi-auto can with it's
6th gear deliver a slightly better fuel consumption, but if I had my choice again I'd go for the manual as
there can be the occasional annoying issue with the semi-auto.

[Problemchild]

My sis is after her first car (passed when 17 and now 25 but hasn't driven since she passed)

Spent last weekend looking at cars and she has a totally unrealistic outlook on it all -
she has £3k, doesn't want anything old or high mileage and keeps pointing out £6k minis !!

Went to Southampton (200mile round trip) to look at a Peugeot 1007 which she said
she liked and even negotiated to £3300 from £3800 but then decided she didn't "love"
it, and that it was "chunky"...

When we got back she decided a brand new fiat 500 was her preferred choice at £1300 down,
36 months at £160 plus final payment of £4500 !!

....which she could just about afford if she ate bread and dripping for 3 years but then
she doesn't even know about gap insurance etc !!

But she likes my forfour and wants me to sell it to her for £4k........aaargh !!

So I'm looking at cheap forfours !! Oh...and she doesn't like silver or multicoloured !!
FFS !!!!

JJ

[basilbrush]

The Peugeot 1007 is a bad proposition....even the dealers didn't want to take them back
in part exchange. Now the 107... that's the one to go for with £20 road tax and group
one insurance, plus brilliant fuel consumption. I've even considered sharing one with the
wife, to be ultra tightfisted.

[Problemchild]

It's a C2 with personality and at £3k for 06 with 31000 miles and top spec, and seen a few at dealers !!

106/C1/Aygo are awful cars !! You don't even get door cards and the door handle is just bolted to the metal door !!

I would hate to drive even the 4miles on the M32 into the centre of Bristol and being a university city,
they are everywhere !! Boooooooring

So the forfour is a suggestion but she only likes brand new cars !!

JJ

[Baggy]

My mum in law had been driving round in mine while i used her disabled access kangoo .
The only reason she hasnt got one is that there are none in the yorkshire merc dealers as she has to part x her kangoo
I did a search on auto trader ... none at all in yorkshire

loads of cheap forfours on ebay but none in our area

hope you find the one u want close to you
x

[CrazyG]

Hey guys....we're getting a bit 'off topic' here....and your starting to ramble a bit JJ....LOL......

And yeah...I should talk..borin old f*rt that I am....LOL

[basilbrush]

Yes G fraid I'm one too. Maybe JJ could find an early Forfour 68 diesel for his sister at a reasonable price.....what about all black. Wasn't suggesting 107etc is a wonderful car it's an economical package as a first buy for someone with limited budget. Unfortunately young people have big ideas as I remember well and it's only when you're older you wince at depreciation and take a more pragmatic view of things.

[Unknown]

Just a quick note on topic... there is actually three gearbox choices for the forfour range:

• 5 speed manual,
  
• 6 speed softip (clutch pedalless manual),
  
• 6 speed softouch (semi-auto AMT).
  

The softip acts in a similar way to the manual but with no clutch pedal and the softouch
adds the automatic mode to the softip manual with creep function (love it or hate it).

Another factor to bear in mind is the AMT gearboxes produce better CO2 emissions,
performance and economy. Buying a 68 Cdi Pulse (better spec'd than the Pure) running
on 14in steels, no air con and the softouch box (sounds bad don't it ?) you will benefit
from a very good road fund licence band C.  So that's £30 (auto) or £90 (manual) per annum...

BUT remember the CO2/RFL is set at birth so what do you do ?.........
Remap it, alloys - pimp that forfour to the hilt and still only pay £30 a year for possibly
a 135bhp + CDi returning 60+mpg... hmm...

[Problemchild]

Wasn't aware of the 3 gearbox types so thanks for that but I will be suggesting the manual...

I am not worried about driving 200 miles to pick up a car as Bristol is expensive for them but Wales is cheap!!

Seen a few now so thanks for all the advice!!

I will also be aiming for passion spec!!

JJ

[Ferrina]

Just a quick note on topic... there is actually three gearbox choices for the forfour range:

• 5 speed manual,
  
• 6 speed softip (clutch pedalless manual),
  
• 6 speed softouch (semi-auto AMT).
  

The softip acts in a similar way to the manual but with no clutch pedal and the softouch
adds the automatic mode to the softip manual with creep function (love it or hate it).

Another factor to bear in mind is the AMT gearboxes produce better CO2 emissions,
performance and economy. Buying a 68 Cdi Pulse (better spec'd than the Pure) running
on 14in steels, no air con and the softouch box (sounds bad don't it ?) you will benefit
from a very good road fund licence band C.  So that's £30 (auto) or £90 (manual) per annum...

BUT remember the CO2/RFL is set at birth so what do you do ?.........
Remap it, alloys - pimp that forfour to the hilt and still only pay £30 a year for possibly
a 135bhp + CDi returning 60+mpg... hmm...

Excellent post! Best one I've seen for a long time.
Now how do I give rep points ?? (10 outa 10)

[basilbrush]

As far as I know there are only two gearboxes on the Forfour. I will apologise if someone proves me wrong. The automatic box is referred to as "softip" when you choose to use manual gear selection and "softouch" if you move the gearlever over into A and let the transmission select gear automatically. In "softip" mode if you get near the redline the gear will change up for you and when you brake the car will change down back to first gear at standstill.

[Ferrina]

I'm not sure that's totally correct.

[Unknown]

As far as I know there are only two gearboxes on the Forfour. I will apologise if someone proves me wrong. The automatic box is referred to as "softip" when you choose to use manual gear selection and "softouch" if you move the gearlever over into A and let the transmission select gear automatically. In "softip" mode if you get near the redline the gear will change up for you and when you brake the car will change down back to first gear at standstill.

Yep that is true but I can remember when looking at forfours there were two AMT available like the fortwo. I only have an original forfour brochure for reference.