Originally Posted by Barcius

You missed my point. I believe, in the US, the diesel does not add to a lot of savings. Price per gallon here is substantially higher than gasoline (the price gap may increase as the economy rebounds) and the fuel economy difference is big, but does not put a lot of $ in your pocket as it may in Australia. Also taken into consideration that here in the US it is not common to have gas stations that sell diesel mainly in city areas. Therefore, in my opinion since I have driven both US diesel spec and the 4.8, the V8 is the winner in this side of the pond. No vibration, smooth as silk, V8 sound, super fast acceleration etc. However, it may have a niche for diesel here if use the X5 primarily for towing and you may want to keep it for more than 100,000 miles since the diesel is well known for its durability.