Quote:
Originally Posted by Quicksilver
(Post 778112)
Yeah but the mileage the 335d gets is better than what a lot of people are getting in comparable vehicles. Additionally i believe some folks were considering the 335d because it still has enough guts to make them feel good about driving it. For me at least a 2 litre four cylinder would not be my choice. Great mileage isn't everything.
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I agree that great mileage isn't everything, but the 320d would have the handling, features, BMW familiarity, just not the dragstrip performance. In traffic in the city, is an 8 second 0-60 so bad? You can't go 60 in the city anyway. I had a 318 back in the early '90s, and the 320d would outperform it in the real world. It also wouldn't cost anywhere near the $50k that was quoted above. Automakers have long used the phrase "people will pay anything for economy" and have milked that obsession.
Philosophizing for a moment, I think that North America uses far too much fossil fuel, and is obsessed with hp ratings in vehicle. I think the automakers having the ability to offer real alternatives that move us forward, with vehicles like the 320d, but instead they are selling the myth that owners can have it all, 0-60 in six seconds for example, 23/36 mpg is 'good enough', etc. If they provided a choice of two diesel models, I wager they would sell more 320d models than 335d models. Sure, offer the 335d, and charge a lot for it. Just provide a real alternative that is much more (63% more) economical for those that want it. The development work is already done. The vehicle exists.
Many years ago, my 1.9 VW TDI Passat had something like 120 hp. It cruised just fine at 200 km/hr in Germany on our trips to Italy. It was the 'red badge' engine that was shared with Audi. That same engine came in 90, 100, and 110 hp versions, from memory. The 320d, a vehicle of the same size and weight, has 184 hp, which is pretty similar to the 186 hp we had in our E46 325xi, and that vehicle performed fine.
But hey, I would buy a 20d X3 before I bought a 35d X3.
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