BMW fuels its future
BMW Australia has added a diesel model to the 3 Series line-up, but should you buy one?
It’s pretty hard to pick up a current automotive magazine without seeing an article on BMW’s new twin turbo 3 Series coupe. It’s a wonderful car but there’s another BMW that uses forced induction that is also quite impressive (in a different way), has two extra doors, drinks less fuel and costs half as much.
In late 2006 BMW launched the 320 Diesel into the Australian market. As diesel cars become more and more popular in our market it wasn’t a matter of if, but when BMW would ship the 3 Series diesel to our shores.
When looking at entry level prestige vehicles, it’s pretty hard to look past the BMW 3 Series. You get great looks, ample power and fuel economy all coupled into a tight four-door which actually handles better than some sports cars.
The 320d gets a 2.0 litre four-cylinder turbo diesel that produces 115kW of power with a six-cylinder rivalling 330 Nm of torque from as low as 2,000 rpm. Though this is the first 3 Series to chew diesel it’s not the first time we’ve seen this engine. The same engine is shared with the BMW 120d. Noise-wise BMW has done well to mask the touch of diesel rattle at start up.
Power is fed through BMW’s Steptronic six-speed gearbox with, unfortunately, no manual gearbox option for the 320d. The Steptronic also provides smooth, efficient shifting to extract maximum power and fuel economy. The transmission is geared so that top speed comes in sixth gear. It also allows the driver to shift gears manually by flicking the selector level to upshift or downshift as required.
The question of would you buy one isn’t to compare petrol to diesel but more what suits your lifestyle. Where the diesel really shines is on the open roads, overtaking is made easy with more torque than its naturally aspirated four and six-cylinder siblings and fuel economy that would make some small hatches feel a little greedy.
Starting at $56,700 the 320d fits nicely in the 3 Series range and we anticipate it will be here for the long run.
Prices for the BMW 320d range from $56,700 to $61,500.
