What were the engine options on the B max and which best suited the car ? Was there a diesel option and is this recommended ? Cheers

Petrol options were 1.0 ecoboost, n/a 1.4 and n/a 1.6 (with the powershift DCT auto)

Diesel option was the 1.5 TDCI.

Which best suited the car?, well that depends on what you mean. The B-Max, because of its design, was a bit porkier than you'd maybe expext, so with that in mind, the extra torque of the ecoboost or the diesel would probably make it feel more relaxed, same for the 1.6 auto.

Unfortunately, the ecoboost has an unfortunate reputation for being a bit fragile, and while there are clearly going to be cars out there which have caused their owners no grieff whatsoever, the amount of failures would put me right off.

The 1.5 TDCI is a close descendent of the PSA 1.6 'diesel of doom', which also doesn't have a great reputation. The 1.5 version is probably a bit too young to make a definative judgement on its reliablity. But, when looking into the 1.6 version, i discovered that the reputation is perhaps a little unfair. It seems that the problems stem from two main areas, the time between oil changes being too long (as recommended by the manufacturer when new), and it being critical that the correct grade of oil is used. So personally, i'd have no real concerns if buying new, and assuming a very detailed service history, i'd be OK buying used too. So given the 1.5 is a close relative, i'd feel the same way about it.

The 1.6 petrol is absolutely fine by itself, but sadly, in the case of the B-Max, was saddled to the powershift DCT gearbox. Which has a pretty terrible reputation, to the extent that Ford quietly dropped it and have gone back to a t/c auto for the new Fiesta and Focus.

So in terms of reliability, your best bet would be the n/a 1.4 petrol with manual gearbox. Not especially quick, but adequate, and reasonable economy too.

But. TBH, the B-Max isn't that great a car. The door arrangement is interesting, and looks cool when front and rear are open with that huge gap. But in practice, the rear doors are very heavy to operate, the openings by themselves (i.e, without the front doors being open too) are small, and going by owners reviews, there are sharp edges. Also, the boot is quite small.

I'd actually sooner have the B-Max's predecessor, the Fusion. We had one back in 2006, a 1.4 petrol. Cracking little car, so practical and roomy for its size and drove well.

Edited by badbusdriver on 05/06/2019 at 12:42

Very interesting point about the 'diesel of doom', BBD. Such is progress, compared with my first car back in 1969, a 1955 Austin A50 which ran happily on 2-star petrol and didn't mind what sort of engine oil you put in.

There's a piece by James Ruppert (who knows his stuff) in this week's Autocar, forecasting the end of the banger. Modern cars are so complex in terms of engines and (particularly) electronics that it's hard to see them surviving long enough to become bangers.

Gordonbennet cherishes a 1990s Mercedes coupe, and presumably is able to get the necessary replacement parts to keep it going. Will a 2019 E-class coupe still be going strong in the 2040s?

If anyone can find the secret of making modern electronics last, it'll probably be Toyota.

It's not the electronics that are the problem electronics themselves are usually very reliable as they often have less moving parts than a mechanical item it's more to do with the way they are insulated from the outside world. In a motor vehicle they are exposed to extreme heat and cold, water, salt, vibration and anything else the outside world can throw at it.

But I will agree with you it will probably be Toyota or maybe Honda that make them super reliable in the future.

In magazines such as Modern Classics, they often mention how cars of a certain era are more likely to be taken off the road because of electrical issues. It seems this is through a few reasons, including the connectors, the issues Dan mentions, but also the simple proccess of diagnosing problems. Because of how quickly electronics become obsolete, there simply isn't the equipment available anymore to hook up early automotive electrical systems.

I remember reading an article about how McLaren cars have a stock pile of these old computer systems so they can deal with anything that crops up on the F1, the '92-'98 3 seat hyper car that is, not Formula 1.

Toyota and Honda in particular are often criticised in road tests for old-tech information systems. Maybe that's because they aren't convinced that more advanced systems are reliable.

Neither maker wants their customers to find themselves part of R&D nor to suffer because unproven products, which in some cases should have been shelved permanently, were rushed out, conservative companies both and none the worse for that.