BMW diesel engines.

The 745d is a real beast but unless you can really use the power then the 730d is all you want and more.

I have just bought a new 730d and boy Oh Boy it's quicker accelerating than my

740i V8 - Honestly and only looses out by 5mph on top speed (150 vs 155) and turns average fuel consumption of 38 MPG (imp) no idea what that is in Km/Lit))

I have averaged 23.6 mpg in an X5 3.0d Sport over the past 9 months / 7000 miles. This is mainly round town with a couple of long journeys thrown in.

Am I missing something with diesels? My X5 4.4 gets 18-20 MPG around town with much more zip than the 3.0d would have. I thought diesels were supposed to get double the mileage that gas could provide. If we are only talking a 5 MPG difference around town, why bother?

As we don't have the 3.0d in Canada, could someone tell me the price difference between the 4.4 and the 3.0d? I suspect the care and feeding of the diesel is much more? Can't start and go in cold weather? Poor starting in sub -30 temps? Smoking at full throttle?

douga

Nothing wrong with cold weather if you keep the correct fuel in your tank. the problem is that oil companies "make" summer and winter fuels and the usual problems arise when you store diesel. It is not illegal to have a diesel tank at home - petrol is a different kettle of fish. Boooom!

Using summer diesel in winter will produce a thick sticky gooey mess. You see truckers lighting fires under the diesel tanks to get the fuel back to liquid form again.

Low usage vehicle get the same problems.

My 740i and the new 730d are neck and neck to 60 or 70 but the V8 pulls ahead slightly to 100 then they appear neck and neck to about 140 where the diesel runs out of steam @ 150 and the V8 hits 155.

Does it worry me -- No Way does it--------- so far turned 180 miles in and around town and not use 1/4 tank yet.

Wait till I get it chipped to 270 BHP and 430lb/ft torque. V8 s watch out.....

How about not assuming we all know which gallon you mean? Oscar mentioned imperial. Where does TonyK live?

Raphael:

1 US gallon = 3.79 l, 1 Imperial gallon = 4.55 l.

And how is Warsaw so different from any other big city, traffic-wise? In the rush-hour you get jams. Outside the rush-hour/s you don't...

Since diesel fuel is cheaper there it's worth looking at, but don't you pay some extra tax on the diesel car maybe in comparison with petrol?

In UK diesel is not worthwhile below maybe 15 000 km per year (diesel fuel costs more than 95 octane petrol....)

DAS

For direct replies replace nospam with schmetterling

Come on Don! It's got to be worth it a there is only 5p difference at the moment and on average you get a 30% increase in mileage.

My usual weekly mileage with the 740i is about 280 and usually I get about 22MPG (imp) and my average fill up costs £60 ish. These figures are not linked.

My 730d averages around 35mpg (imp) I haven't used it fully yet and I am not expecting to fill up every 8 - 9 days and when I do it should only cost me £65 for around 68 litres in about 14 - 18 days at the least..

Hugh

Hi, thanks a lot for the answers. More and more I'm leaning towards getting the diesel 730 or 740 :) . With performance of this kind, I don't think that I'll be complaining any time soon, although I'm only 28 so I might just look a bit like my own driver... but who cares :) . Since in live in Poland - Warsaw.. the country and city where roads are on the virge of being called disgusting and attroceous, I'm wondering if anyone could tell me a but about how well does the suspension handle this sort of places? I was driving my

330ci and I had to get my suspensin fixed every 5-6k miles. Then again, the suspension in the 3 series is very delicate, so I'm hoping to get something bit more robust this time :) Raphael

An X5 will have no trouble with Warsaw roads (I've seen them!). I use mine on and off road on unmade tracks all the time. As for fuel economy you should be 35+mpg cruising at 50-70 mph.

Whatever you do DO NOT GET THE SPORT suspension. There is NO suspension it is RACK solid Thump THump THump..................

If you must go for the X3 or X5 for rough surfaces but a stock car - 730 Se is all you need. Maybe you want more but you don't NEED more.

173 lines for that? Please consider trimming your posts.

There's around town and around town.

Autocar only got 11 mpg *overall* when they tested an X5 4.4. And that's the larger UK gallons. On their suburban route that they check all cars on it managed 22. They have no figures of their own for a X5 3.0d, but perhaps the closest they do have is for a 535d which managed 34.

I had my X5 readout changed to IMP from the l/100 km so my 18-20 is correct. Even at 160 km/hr the readout says 18.5 MPG. What year X5 did Autocar review?

Why? Just because you can't be bothered to scroll down. Or is it I'm too lazy to clip them shorter. remember MY post is an answer to another. Perhaps we should all try to keep it to one liners?

Never mind - back to sleep.

Hugh

My E38 740i gets 22 avg with UK gallons.

My E65 730d gets 36 avg with UK gallons

The X5 might be lower geared?

Hugh

Quite some time ago - early 2000 according to the notes. But remember their overall figure includes performance testing. Their same figure for a Prius was 22 mpg. ;-)

But their test route - the second figure - is an attempt to give a good comparison. Official results don't. And each individual uses a vehicle differently, and towns vary.

What RPM do you turn at 100 KM/hr? I'll check again today but it seems to me I am at 2000. If I could get 36 avg with an X5 3.0d, I'd jump. Rumors have it they are coming to Canada for 2008. Also a hybrid X5 is in the works.

Hmm! If I recall the 740i is around 1800 in 5th Auto

the 730d is around 1650 in 6th Auto again.

I'll check next time I'm out which will probably be Monday.

The X5 is about 1900 RPM at 100 km/hr in 6th. Is there a turbo lag with the

730d? The X5 has drive by wire and the lag is more that a cable throttle--it takes some time for the engine to wake after pushing it to the floor.

Many times I wonder if all this high tech stuff is more for marketing than true performance for the drivers!

The only time I notice a "LAG" is when I emerge from a side street into traffic

- dangerous - but the pickup is fairly quick after about 0.5 sec.

However the petrol 740i does a similar 'cough' sometimes when it thinks about either dropping a gear or two or actually giving me 300BHP to accelerate in whatever gear I happen to be in at the time - roundabouts here in the UK are the major hiccups - I know you don't have many 'roundabouts' in the UK. Not wanting to start a discussion about traffic management but the only one I have ever come across is in St Petersburg FL at the end of the bridge going to Clearwater Beach on R60 Have a look on Google maps "Causeway Blvd - Clearwater Beach"

Hugh