High Powered Diesel

Regy53

Regy53

Regy53

Soldato
Joined
11 Jun 2011
Posts
3,880
Location
Northampton
Hi All,

Looks like a car change is coming up. I need a mile muncher. I would like to get something with some serious poke if possible.

Budget sub - 13k ish.

I am not sure what there is really, but I have my eyes set on a BMW 335D. Anybody got any experience with these? they seem to remap very well.

What other choices do I have?

Requirements are really 4 seats, newer than 2004 /5. reasonable mpg. I would rather a premium brand but would look at anything really.

Come on OCUK find me my next car :)
 
Supercharged M3 purchase worked well then :p

High power and autobox means just because it's diesel doesn't mean it's super economical. Plus don't forget non fuel costs too. The 3 series is hardly a stellar mile muncher either as the ride sucks.
 
[TW]Fox;24464266 said:
Supercharged M3 purchase worked well then :p

High power and autobox means just because it's diesel doesn't mean it's super economical. Plus don't forget non fuel costs too. The 3 series is hardly a stellar mile muncher either as the ride sucks.
Click to expand...

Well it serves a purpose, just I am being given a car allowance rather than a car so time to work out new things.

Mile muncher is probably a bit of a saying rather than what i need.

Commuting 60 miles a day A road, bit of m1.

I know the BMW ride is poor, I briefly had a f31 320D msport with the 19inch upgrade and the ride was very harsh.

however it seems to be a supercar for the price?
 
Last edited:
I'm coming up to a similar decision and my favourite a the moment is a Jaguar XF 3.0D, they're just coming into budget around 15k.

I wouldn't want the older 5 series, the F10 is still out of budget, the A5 doesn't do a huge deal for me.
 
Last edited:
In fairness the first time you drive an x35d the first thing that comes to mind (or did for me at least) is how impressive it is....for a diesel.

If anything it seems overkill to buy one, the petrol makes sense given how well rounded it is but the diesel is just kind of....pointlessly powerful for an oil burner. If that makes sense
 
nope, that makes no sense at all....how is it pointlessly powerful purely because it's an oil burner? The fact it couldreturn nearly 50mpg on the motorway, and never sub 22-23, usually not sub 30 no matter how hard you drove it and it being devilishly fast compared to anything that wasnt REALLY special, made it a really great allrounder. I do miss it's overtaking ability. To give you an idea the lowest tank i ever averaged was 24mpg and that was after chasing Gibbo's porsche around cheshire all day, literally driving at 95%. The m54b30 in my z4 is capable of high 30s on a run, but if you even consider using the loud pedal that drops to low twenties or worse, im averaging 14mpg over this tank so far with mainly spirited drives that still werent as fast as the 24mpg tank from the much faster 335D.

To me if there is another diesel engine that is close to that in the x35D, ive not tried it yet...it's literally the only diesel i like, especially once mapped. 350bhp, 700nm of torque, 13.0 second quarter miles and the ability to return 600 miles to 60 litres and be fun to drive...yeah, sounds good to me.
 
Last edited:
Happy with the performance of my 530D, 99% of the time is has more than enough power and it's only when I want to race some nobber I forget I am not in one of my previous cars....though I would have course never race on the road.....never I tell you.
 
[TW]Fox;24465009 said:
So fun and so cheap to run you've binned it and gone for a proper sports car :p
Click to expand...

it was £9000 cheaper to buy the z4 than what i sold the 335D for, and i dont do crazy miles anymore :p If the car has a warranty then yeah running costs are actually pretty reasonable (and warranty can be kept by using a JBD instead of remap and just remove when it visits the dealer), its only the tyres that are a bit mad and you can avoid that by getting the 18s.

if i needed to be able to do miles but have a turn of speed and fun when wanted, then the 335D makes far more sense...which is why i got it. Don't get me the wrong the z4 is definitely more fun, but i'd not like to be doing long journeys in it regularily, where as once i got rid of the RFTs i found the 335D more than comfortable enough for doing hundreds of miles a day in.
 
Well the regular 3 litre diesel 6 is still plenty powerful, is a bit more economical and a bit less complex. It sounds good for a diesel but still sounds diesely and is more expensive for what is ultimately little gain if you're spending 2 to 3 hours just driving on the motorway every day

I like the engine a lot, just don't really see a situation where I'd ever buy one
 
rodenal said:
Well the regular 3 litre diesel 6 is still plenty powerful, is a bit more economical and a bit less complex. It sounds good for a diesel but still sounds diesely and is more expensive for what is ultimately little gain if you're spending 2 to 3 hours just driving on the motorway every day

I like the engine a lot, just don't really see a situation where I'd ever buy one
Click to expand...

for me the extra turbo makes the car a lot smoother, far less of a diesel power delivery.....very smooth from 1500 to 4750rpm, where as the single turbo has more of a spike....who cares about complexity, you'd be an idiot to own any of these cars without a warranty or deep pockets, and the fuel economy especially if you get one that has the ED stuff is still damn good. I believe PMkeates has seen over 50mpg on motorway runs from his 535D....
 
If you like cars that are a bit fun, a mapped x35d almost overrides the fact you're driving a rattly diesel that's about as aurally pleasing as a vacuum cleaner. The x35d is a car that happily returns 50+ MPG on reasonable motorway journeys, yet can hassle a 911 Carrera and have guys on sports bikes wondering what's going on.

As rG- mentioned, the sequential turbo setup also makes it a much more flexible engine - it's delivering over a larger rev range and feels less like a diesel than normal (which is a good thing). That really helps everyday pace, though less so with the newer 8-speed auto in the F10. In the E60, however, the 535d feels much quicker day-to-day. When mapped up to the full 350 HP / 700 Nm, delivering a very usable 200 HP @ 2000 RPM, they're at a different level of pace to the 530d, and actually not bad to drive full stop!
 
Last edited:
On the F10 the real difference is low down, it pulls much more strongly from lower down and that is what I noticed when I drove them back to back the other month. Once you get into the revs the difference is less obvious but there is no question the 35 has more go than the 30 but having also run with a 535D there was little in it in real terms.
 
There isn't going to be a lot in it stock as there's only about a 40 HP difference - not much in a 1700 Kg car. As you say, the big difference is the driveability in the lower revs, and the fact the 535d gains even more of that with an ECU flash. You also find the 2TB Sports automatic transmission on the 535d more often than other diesel models, and that really sharpens up the gearbox.
 
The 8 speed sport auto is a great box, suits the car really well. I am not aware of a reliable tune for the F10 530D at the moment either, seems to be something people are struggling with for some reason, not that I would bother with it anyway.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom