Diesel X-5 for USA in 2007 or 2008?

[fln8tive]

I am trying to decipher what if anything is in the pipeline for a US diesel powered X-5. Call a dealer and there is a long silence on the phone. I like the sound of a V8 as much as anbody, but diesels are just amazing...plus, with an inverter we Floridians could use a diesel X5 as standby power during hurricane season .

[X5Sport]

I thought I had read somewhere that the diesel fuels in the USA were not clean enough to use in the current BMW (or other manufacturers) engines as they contain too much Sulphur. All diesel in the UK is now Ultra-Low Sulphur or ULSD fuel and hence much cleaner burning. European engines are therefore not happy with other diesel fuels.

There are a number of other countries around the world where cleaner fuels are required before modern diesel engines can be used.

In Europe we are now in the Euro IV version with Euro V to come. My wife has the same engine (apart from bhp) as me in her 330CD Convertible, but it is not available in an Auto as it cannot meet the emissions requirements of EU4. Because it went on sale in 2005 as a new version of the E46 it had to meet EU4. My 2005 X5 was already available in its current version and only has to meet EU3 so an auto is avail.

This might be a reason for delays in introducing a diesel variant, but I may be wrong.

Personally I'd also like to see BMW diesels being able to use higher proportions of even cleaner burning bio-diesel, but at present they can't cope with mixes containing more than 5% of this added to ULSD.

[X5Flyboy]

We are so screwed up here in the USA when it comes to energy - what are there, 30+ different formulations of gasoline (for reg, plus, & super)!?!? - I would love to own a X5 diesel.

[asawadude]

I forget exactly where I read this, but Spartansburg builds many (if not all) of the 3.0d X5's that are exported to the rest of the world. If this is true, many the distribution channel is up and ready to go.

But to X5Sport's point, the lack of an ultra low sulfur fuel is one of the hold ups, but it's supposedly on the way. ULSD is supposed to be available at retail gas pumps on Sept 1. Expected premium is 6-7 cents more than conventional diesel. Most, if not all, of the gas retailers have a product developed and ready to go.

The question is when will BMW have these engines ready to meet U.S. emissions compliance? U.S. smog regulations are more stringent than Euro regulations. And the improved fuel economy should help BMW's CAFE ratings. So it's a no-brainer to sell diesels here in the US. But why has there been such little noise by BWM regarding future U.S. diesel models?

[fln8tive]

How in the world can we in the US have high-sulphur diesel when we are such huge petroleum users--that is a scandal! Or is it that we have more stringent emission laws? I have heard though that VW and Mercedes sell a miniscule amount of diesels--it is likely a marketing concern

Good point about CAFE ratings--BMW just paid a huge fine search www.jalopnik.com because of CAFE fines. Does anybody want to start a thread under "Group Purchases" for some diesel X5 action?

[JCL]

The US (and Canada) have relatively high-sulphur fuel for two reasons: lack of political will, and the existing investment in refinery capacity (or lack of new investment).

The low-sulphur fuel will arrive in 2006, just in time for the new 2007 emissions regulations. While BMW (and others) can meet those regulations with current technology applied to diesels, they can't meet the requirement that those technologies continue to work for an extended period of time, which is a regulatory requirement. They require owner maintenance, and there is fear that owners will just not bother.

Having said that, BMW is continuing with the development of direct-injection gasoline engines, and should debut more models in 2006. When that technology is applied to the 3.0 and 4.8 litre models, we should see another 10% (more or less) fuel efficiency improvement, beyond that which we saw with Valvetronic. The Valvetronic engines were the same order of magnitude. So, apply a compound 20% fuel efficiency improvement to a current 3.0 petrol, and some of the lustre goes away for the diesel. Not that the diesel torque isn't great, but given the other complications related to emissions, I think it may be a while before we see it.

[LeMansX5]

The next gen X5 will have have a diesel verison to be sold in US hopefully by next year. Read more here.

[DINANM3]

Originally Posted by asawadude

I forget exactly where I read this, but Spartansburg builds many (if not all) of the 3.0d X5's that are exported to the rest of the world. If this is true, many the distribution channel is up and ready to go.

But to X5Sport's point, the lack of an ultra low sulfur fuel is one of the hold ups, but it's supposedly on the way. ULSD is supposed to be available at retail gas pumps on Sept 1. Expected premium is 6-7 cents more than conventional diesel. Most, if not all, of the gas retailers have a product developed and ready to go.

The question is when will BMW have these engines ready to meet U.S. emissions compliance? U.S. smog regulations are more stringent than Euro regulations. And the improved fuel economy should help BMW's CAFE ratings. So it's a no-brainer to sell diesels here in the US. But why has there been such little noise by BWM regarding future U.S. diesel models?

Every X5 built is built in spartanburg, SC. Even the desiels

[asawadude]

Originally Posted by DINANM3

Every X5 built is built in spartanburg, SC. Even the desiels

The early X5 4.4i's were built in Germany because Spartansburg didn't have the capacity to meet demand. When did the German assembly lines get phased out?

[LeMansX5]

Originally Posted by DINANM3

Every X5 built is built in spartanburg, SC. Even the desiels