Your 3.0D should already have a turbo, but Lambeau was talking about the 3.0i (petrol engine), which does NOT have a turbo.

what is this D?

Diesel. I was at Ramstein AFB this past January & I rented a Nissan "Trail" that was a diesel and this thing was actually somewhat quiet and had gobs of power! It sure didn't sound like one of these P.O.S. big diesel fords and dodges that pull up next to you at a stoplight and irritate the shit out of you!

Right, thanks for the info. I love the gentle whistle when you pull away (from the turbo), but you can only hear it if you have a window down.

The diesel engines are higher stroke, so with reasonable boost pressure from reasonable size turbos, torque gains are substantial. The petrol engines on the other hand have much lower stroke; so one would need to flow much more air, in the form of a large turbo since it's a reasonably larger displacement. Not only is the stock, high compression not suitabe for boost, a larger turbo would mean more lag.

Why not just find a wrecked M3 with the front-end in tact, and drop that engine in the X5? You would end up with more HP than a 4.4 (but not as much torque), but a much lighter vehicle... Personally, I would just get a 4.4 or a 4.8... That way, you still have a warranty?!?!

-- Kelly

M3 engine doesn't have enough torque to pull the weight of the X5. It's power is also more concentrated higher in the rev band relative to the engines offered in the X.

It would def be more practical to get an X5 with a v8.

I wanted to get the 4.8 but I WILL NOT drive an automatic! Automatics SUCK! Why couldn't they have put the M3 man trans in the X with the 4.8? I'm sure it could handle the HP/torque.

M3 engine can't pull the X5 but the 3.0i can... ?

But I agree about the high revs - had an '04 M3 and was terrified to drive it a day outside of its warranty.. whereas the torque in the 4.4i is much more noticeable down low.. end result being an engine that doesn't really get pushed all that hard (much better in the long run I expect).

it's about the power + tq band.