Any chance of seeing the 330xi wagon in the USA?

"Tom K." wrote

Hmmm. They've changed something. My '01 330xi is 209 lbs heavier than a 330i, and the 325i/325xi difference for 01 is 253 lbs.

Floyd

Looks like it. The '06 330xi/330i difference is virtually the same at 210 lbs. The only other difference is that the 325xi includes headlight washers & wipers which are standard on both 330 models. I guess the motor, wipers, plumbing & extra fluid accounts for 65 lbs! All figures are from

Tom

Are you kidding me? Look at all the SUVs that drive around, look at all the diesels in them!!! I am sure modern german diesels in cars produce less polution then what american gas(petrol) SUVs produce, not even talking about the diesel versions. I love this country and live here for that reason, not even mentioning others but one of the things I hate is all the exclusions for privatly owned passenger SUVs. You are talking about polution control that lets the greatest polutors polute as much as possible for no reason what so ever.

There are only two models of SUVs that are available with diesels: Chevy (or GMC) Suburban and Ford's Expedition. They sold a total of about 30K Expeditions last year, only a portion (1/3? fewer) with diesel. Chevy sold more (??? but % of diesels was also small). So out of a total market of around 15 million or more motor vehicles, we're talking a number far less than 1%. The percentage in EU is around 40% last I heard. Yeah, recent EU diesels (since low-sulfur fuel availability) emit less soot, but they emit more NOx than ours.

Get your facts straight before you blow off such bullshit.

Floyd

"Floyd Rogers" wrote

Sorry, slipped my mind. The Jeep Liberty is now available with a diesel (as of the 2005 model year). That makes three.

Did you know (of course not - I'm going to try to educate you) that in 2002 there were 470,000 diesel vehicle registrations? That's about 2.7% of the 17,000,000 vehicles sold.

Floyd

eeerrrrrmmmm - don't petrol cars pollute too ? especially the 4, 5 and 6 litre, low technology, gas guzzlers that are rare to extinct in Europe ? and the taste in the air of Californian cities - is that some hybrid rose plant or just the sea air ? Any figures for energy consumption per capita between the continents ? Anyway, seems like we are both going to be dwarfed by the Chinese in the next 10 years or so - then we'll have a Katrina a month perhaps ?

Nick

"Nick" wrote

In grams per mile, all gas engines in the US emit fewer pollutants than gas cars in EU - except CO2, if you count that as a pollutant.

The air in Berlin, Paris, London, Munich and others I've been in is worse than LA's air. The diesel stink in those cities makes me sick, and the NOx/Ozone/CO is just as bad an eye-stinger as in LA.

I'm waiting for a hurricane to travel up the Gulf Current and wipe out Ireland and the UK. ;-<

Floyd

"Floyd Rogers" wrote

In re-reading that, it's a little unclear and even incorrect. How about: EU cars have not had to meet standards similar to those in the US until recently. Because the US has had stricter standards (for HC, CO and NOx) for about 10 years longer than EU, the average per-car emissions for those pollutants is lower in the US than the EU, on a per-mile basis.

Floyd

Which raises another question: Is this full-time AWD, as in the Audi A4 with it's Torsen center diff, or is this a viscous or electronic clutch system that drives the extra two wheels only when the other end slips? (part-time AWD)

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Curious, I checked the BMW US site:=20 (Price and tax info removed)

Model Fuel Engine Fuel consump. 0-62 mph

330d M Sport * Diesel 2993cc 42.2 (37.2) mpg 6.8 (6.9) 330i M Sport * Petrol 2996cc 31.7 (30.4) mpg 6.4 (6.8)

(auto trans)

Not bad, only 4 tenths of a second down on the 0-62 . and the auto trans penalty is only 1 tenth for the diesel. I guess the auto trans makes better use of the high torque.=20

MPG is much better. Still, I wonder if it's worth the penalty of waiting for the one diesel pump nozzle while many gas lanes are open at the filling stations. =20

One thing I didn't see in the table is weight distribution. If the diesel engine is heavier, what does it do to the F/R weight distribution?

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"Doug Warner" wrote

Don't you mean the UK site?

The diesel engine is only slightly heavier than the gas engine IIRC, so the balance is hardly affected.

Floyd

"Doug Warner" wrote

The older system ('01 - present) in the 325xi/330xi is a 36/74 split full-time system. The new system (in the X3/X5 and now in 3 & 5 series) is the xDrive system, which you might call part-time.

Floyd

PS: Please post in plain text rather than html.

oops.. Was thinking UK when I typed it. fingers decided to change it..=20

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Can't be me.. I use Agent, text-only.=20

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I have never even seen a diesel SUV. I see a few big pickups (3/4 ton trucks or larger) with diesels. What part of the country has all these diesel SUVs?

Floyd is a little out to lunch on his math. the '01 to '05 3 series xi are a 38% front / 62% rear full time system. ( 36 & 74 is 110% ) only sportscasters can get away with that. The new Xdrive is a FULL TIME AWD system ( you may not call it part-time ) which is infinitely variable. It can be 100% rear or 100% front or any combination in between the two and is monitored 100 times a second and adjusted according to driving requirements. BMW states that it is pro-active not re-active and adjusts before compensation is needed instead of reacting to loss of traction. It uses a central clutch to distribute drive and reacts five times faster than any other system.

snipped-for-privacy@canada.com

"330xi" wrote

(Blushing)

"The X3 also debuts BMW's new xDrive, a nifty single-speed torque-transfer coupling with a microchip-administered multiplate clutch pack that constantly varies engine thrust between the front and rear axles from 100 percent rear to 50/50. Combined with brake-based traction control and a hill-descent function that works the brakes to control downward velocity, the xDrive is a more flexible doohickey than the planetary gear differential and its fixed 38-percent-front,

62-percent-rear torque split found in the 325xi and the '03 X5 (the '04 X5 also features xDrive)."

"This division of power covers a range extending infinitely from 50:50 all the way to 0:100. So in an extreme case the front and rear axles are either totally disconnected or linked firmly to one another, such a firm, rigid connection acting in the same way as a 100 per cent longitudinal lock on a conventional all-wheel-drive system. And since torque and engine power are re-distributed within a few milliseconds, the driver normally does not even notice such a change in power.

When driving straight-ahead under normal conditions, 60 per cent of the engine power goes to the rear axle, 40 per cent to the front."

This makes me wonder how they do it. If the thing uses a constantly-slipping mechanical clutch, how log will it last? Is it a wear item? =20

A helical gear differential (Torsen is the original brand) does automatic torque distribution instantly, without clutches or electronics. I don't know if they can be designed to do things like

60/40 splits though.

I tend to trust the simpler solution to a problem over the more complex one, such as a cable-operated throttle as opposed to an electronic one (Which has problems in manual trans Audis).=20

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