Slick And Quick Bmw Oiler

Newcastle Herald

Saturday December 6, 2008

writes Brent Davison

WITH the national launch of its revised 3-Series range just days away, BMW Australia has confirmed its sports diesel variant, the 330d, will become part of the local line-up although with an on-sale date some time in the second quarter of '09 prospective buyers will have to wait a while.

Will it be worth the wait? Reports out of Europe suggest the car will be well worth a show of patience, simply because the engine pushes diesel performance into a whole new league.

A 3.0-litre, inline six-cylinder, the engine uses all-alloy construction to bring weight down and a high-pressure turbocharger pushes power up to the point where the diesel makes a very petrol-like 180 kilowatts and a very impressive 520 Newton metres of torque at 1750rpm and holds it all the way through to 3000rpm.

That's more torque, by the way, than any other BMW 3-Series sedan.

When it comes here the car will be sold only with a six-speed automatic transmission.

Performance is equivalent to a number of V8-engined cars, dashing from 0-100kmh in a claimed 6.2 seconds and on to an electronically limited 250kmh top speed, all the while managing a meagre 6.8 litres/100km (on the combined average cycle) and pushing out a modest 180 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometre.

Because of its low fuel and pollution the 330d qualifies for the higher Luxury Car Tax threshold of $75,000 which means buyers will pay a lower LCT than for a similarly priced car returning fuel consumption figures higher than 7.0 litres/100km. That said, BMW will not be announcing a price on the sporty diesel until much closer to its launch.

Tom Noble, marketing manager for BMW Australia, says buyers of the luxury brand have been taking up diesel vehicles in increasingly larger numbers every year, particularly in the SUV lines.

© 2008 Newcastle Herald

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