its not that much of a performance lift over the 35d ... a little more efficient, a little more powerful, a little smoother transmission ..more evolutional than revolutional .....
I think the 45d theory holds up well ... in the US gas is so (relatively) cheap that it will take something special to lift diesel use from current 30% to something like 60% as per Europe ... and offering something like the 35i which is faster and arguably smoother than 35d has probably slowed things down for you guys in terms of market demand for 40d
Even though the US may miss out for now it would be great for the US situation to influence BMW AG to build an almighty diesel version - along the lines of what Audi have started .... e.g. if 45d could pump out 260kw and 700Nm then I'm sure people would convert much more readily from the 35i's and perhaps even 50i's ....
and then there's the whole hybrid debate as things may just start moving more in that direction - and I just can't see a diesel-hybrid world over the next 5 years ?! more gas-hybrid I suspect .. which may slow diesel HP development down and divert R&D in that direction ....
at least in the US you get great pricing and options... so you can turn your X5's over more readily when new models do arrive or you just want to try something different...
