Depends on the diesel in question. US-spec 35d reaches its claimed peak power at 4200rpm; Euro and Aussie spec 35d and 40d reach peak power at 4400rpm.

It really does seem like the main grunt is made between 1800-3500rpm, beyond that it's kind of noisy and it's not like the speedometer needle climbs that much faster. It's quite apparent when the transmission mistakenly thinks there's a hill and holds the revs out on flat land........lot of noise but seems out of its element.

This doesn't sound like the six-cylinder BMW diesels I know and love. They are usually more than happy to slide up into a tall gear as soon as possible. Never driven one that "mistakenly thinks there's a hill and holds the revs out on flat land".

I wish my 35i would shift 500 rpm early...there is very little acceleration after 6k.

have you tried it in manual mode and not past the kickdown point?

Yeah it happens on occasion, usually when starting off from a stop sign.

I know some of the coarseness is the result of poor diesel fuel my dad puts in "It's the cheapest fuel station, just $3,85/US gallon! ($1,02/litre) but often I wish it would provide more oomph instead of dialing up the revs to 3k before upshifting.