I thought that the 35d had more torque right across the board? at least going by the graphs that bmw publish for the two engines anyway

looking at them now, the 35d has made 400nm by about 1,050rpm maybe 1,100 and by around 1,350rpm where the petrol is at peak of 400, the diesel is somewhere between 500 and 550

below 1,000rpm I have no idea as their graphs only start at 1,000 but I do know that if I was to purposely try and keep the rpm below 1,000 driving almost any roughly comparable vehicle, I would be accelerating rather slowly and attracting a fair bit of horn honking ;) as soon as I press the pedal, my tacho instantly rises well over 1,000rpm

Which board? ;) The 35d can't have more torque across the board, since it drops below the 35i rating at about 4700 rpm, when the 35i is still at its torque peak. That isn't even considering the next 2000 or so rpm after that.

The 35i (in an e60, with a manual transmission) is quite tractable below 1000 rpm. Try blipping the throttle at 600 rpm on the two engines.

The 35i has a turbocharger design that is a generation ahead. I suspect that the 35d will catch up with the next generation product, whether it be the tri-turbo model or another one.

I think he was comparing it to a 30i (non-turbo) X5.

In the X6 brochure both engines have a couple of pages dedicated to them, which include a dyno-like graph showing the available torque and power @ rpm. It starts at 1000rpm and right from there, the 35d is significantly higher right across to about 4700-4800 rpm, where it finally drops down to the petrol engine's 400nm. only here does the petrol sustain 400nm for about another 300-400rpm where it too dives off

given that we were talking about low rpm, I didn't see that 300-400 rpm range right up at 5k, particularly significant in the context - so felt that saying 'right across the board' was pretty fair. happy to change that to 'right across the board until 5k rpm' though

oh cool I had already taken a pic of 35i graph at some point too:

http://jason.qgl.org/images/bmw/DSC01273.JPG

I've had a fair bit of wheel time (a week in each) in an X6 35d and an X6 35i and the 35d has more real world grunt than the 35i even if the 35i has a smidge more top end. And 35i uses approx 30% more fuel. Don't get me wrong, the 35i is sweet as, but for day to day driving it can't match the instant get up and go of the 35d.

I had my X5 35d since Dec 2008, one of the first in production.
Have not had any problem at all, perfect!
And even went on a road trip to DisneyWorld and mrytle Beach on our way back to Canada. It was a pleasure to drive and the diesel engine was so smooth!
we average 600mile/tank, averaged 26+mpg, mostly hway. But city/hway avg of 22-23mpg.
I even like the distinct diesel engine clatter rather than the gasoline engines, but it is a very soft clatter not like the loud heavy duty GM diesel trucks.
There is a noticeable turbo lag, but the raw torque power makes up for it (0-60 in 7sec)

No regrets and worth every penny.

How many miles/Km have you got on it?

I've had my X5 3.0sd (your35d) since April 08 over here and before that a 535d for 3 years.

No engine problems at all despite the remap on my 535d

Great cars

about 15,000 miles