Diesel Driven

For the past ten years many automobile makers have been trying to incorporate a diesel powered car into their lineups. Some were successful but many just could not find the the perfect mixture between diesel fuel efficiency and performance. BMW introduced the 335d back in 2008 with the intentions of selling a fuel efficient sports car; they nearly succeeded. The diesel car market really has not taken off nearly as fast as many have predicted. This is unfortunate because diesel powered cars are going to most likely be the first real push towards fuel efficiency. Electric and hydrogen powered cars are starting to become a more popular research and concept topic for manufacturers but it is their impracticality that is holding up mainline production.

Volkswagen currently leads the diesel market in terms of fuel efficiency with there Jetta TDI but the car really isn't anything impressive outside of it mpgs. Along with VW Audi has also incorporated a few diesel models of there own; none of which that stand out in the performance category. BMW took the design of the 335i sedan and just simply replaced the famed inline six with, yes you guessed it, another inline six but this one is powered by diesel. Don't get too excited by the numerical denotation of the 335d because the overall performance falls between the 328i and the 335i; not that any less performance than the 335i is unsuitable for the common man. The 335d does share the same two baby turbos as the 335i which helps it to outrun the 328i in a dead sprint. The engine boasts a plentiful 265bhp but the real kicker is the massive amount of torque, a whole 425lbs. worth. The 335d skips along 0 to 60 in about 6 seconds flat which is a hair better than most of the cars found in its class.

The 335d has a 16.1 gallon gas tank which is the same size as the 328i and 335i's tank but the diesel gets far better gas mileage than even the smaller engine 328i. The mpgs come in at 23 city and 36 highway, at an average of about 29.5 mpgs. The 328i averages about 23 mpgs while the 335i rolls out about 21.5 on average. Many diesel powered cars tend to run significantly louder than that of there gasoline equivalent, however, the 335d doesn't run any louder than the 328 or the 335 but only produces a different sound under the hood and out the exhaust pipes when accelerating. The 335d prices out at around $44,000 give or take a few of its limited options which is more around the price of a 328 as compared to a 335. The diesel only comes in a four door model with no word of a coupe ever being built. BMW definitely has produced an attractive fuel efficient sports sedan but are people really ready to leave their gas guzzling petrol burners behind?