I'm still with JCL. The clatter is there at low speeds and up some hills. It is definitely dead quiet at freeway speeds (and smooth), but the low speed clatter was not attractive to me or my wife. That doesn't mean the noise is bad, it's just something that not everyone agrees with.

I still remember the day I was driving away from my health club early on a cold morning. I drove by someone and they stared at my X5 as I drove by. She was surprised by the noise it was making. Call that my own ego problem or image, but these are $60K purchases.

Filling the diesel was fine as long as I could pick the station. On trips it wasn't great and we used the gloves. Again, not a terrible thing, but not something I really wanted to mess with. My wife finally refused to do the fill-ups due to the mess on some pumps.

So I like JCLs balanced way of looking at it. The diesel is a nice engine for the right people. But it won't agree with everyone and that is fine also.

For me it came down to my pure enjoyment and why I buy BMWs. So the 35i has been a perfect fit. A few extra bucks for gas isn't a big deal when you are laying out 60K to buy the thing. So fuel prices between the 35d and 35i are a non-factor for me now.

Again, before I get torched. I'm sure many people will love the 35d and it will attract new buyers to the X5. That is all a good thing for us BMW owners.