It's nice to be the very first post in a forum. The Diesel Driver magazine and I would like to welcome diesel enthusiasts to this forum.
335d What is not to like? 36 MPG Highway, NO smoke or smell, fuel that is at mid grade price (vs the premium for my other 3 series) the sound of a 70's muscle car (baritone and low rpm) and 425 lb-ft torque that makes it a passing rocket ship! It saddens me that the Europeans understand these benefits so much more than us. Try it, I bet you will LOVE it! Short shift and be prepared to get new back tires and speeding tickets Now if the aftermarket would get it together. These cars have been out for years ( before our '09 start) and there are tuners in the UK/Europe but I can hardly find anything from Bimmerworld, Turner, Bav Auto and Dinan.
About a month ago, I test drove the 335d. It was my first experience ever driving a diesel. I thought that it was great. Very good low rpm power. No smell. Very little noise.
diesel is no longer "mid grade" it is 20% more than regular in Ia. $4.09 regular (nonethinol) is $3.35. Otherwise have loved my x5. Averaged just over 28mpg on 600 mile trip this weekend on mostly back roads.
Diesel hasn't been any kind of "middle" price anything since 2007 when the use of ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel was mandated by the federal government. Most of the time since then, diesel's been the most expensive gas, as far as I've noticed, except for a few of the price spikes that ran super-unleaded higher than diesel. Even though diesel fuel is relatively more per gallon, (usually it seems), that's no reason not to consider running one of the bimmer oil burners!
Southern Illinois X5d owner and finding it harder to find diesel fuel that is not a 5-20% biodiesel blend. Would like to have up to date information on what BMW is doing to evaluate effect on warranty, or maintenance adjustments to minimize going beyond their 5% guidelines.
I haven't seen anything from BMW. I would say that, from reading a lot of other forums, the main problem that higher levels of biodiesel (> 5%) might cause problems with lubricity. That would cause me to do more frequent oil changes, and check the oil for contaminants (using Blackstone labs or similar.)
