# Why a diesel?



## Michael47 (May 9, 2014)

Entertaining video that lays it out for ya.
https://youtu.be/kpZQPN9ONu0


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## rbreding (Sep 6, 2016)

Penny Pinching Tighta$$es.....LOL


IN PRISON!!! LMAO


Good watch.......


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## n1das (Jul 22, 2013)

I haven't watched the video yet but I'll answer the question in the thread title. OK, so why a diesel? 5 fundamental reasons: Economy, Longevity, Performance, TORQUE, and Efficiency.

I drive around 1k miles/week and I also like to drive (part of why I own BMWs). I've owned my share of gassers years ago too. Never again if I can help it. I've been driving diesels for the past 14.5 years and logged a combined total of over 800k miles in my diesels. I haven't owned a gasoline vehicle in over 10 years and there's absolutely no way I'm ever going back to one if I can help it. No more gassers! ALL future vehicle purchases of mine shall only be DIESEL vehicles. If I someday add another vehicle to my all-diesel fleet, it likely will be a diesel pickup truck. My BMW diesels are long term keepers. With my driving around 1k miles/week, whatever I own and drive absolutely HAS to be DIESEL.

Have fun!


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## Doug Huffman (Apr 25, 2015)

I've been driving diesel since my Y2K VW TDI NB. My 2003 ALH TDI Jetta was at 180K miles when Milady Wife decided that it was too small for safety, and she had good reason for that decision. 

The first reason is that one may buy horsepower (90 hp ALH TDI) but one drives torque.

The second reason is simplicity. If I never sweat spark timing, fuel mixture and air again, it will be OK.

Third reason; so far none of my three diesels have left me walking.

At 180K the ALH TDI was still giving an honest 50+ mpg at every opportunity.


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## dhhbmwfest (Jun 29, 2011)

Great video, thanks for posting!

I've been a diesel advocate for nearly 20 years now. It's always baffled me that 2/3 of European cars were diesels, but the numbers here in the US were far less than that. And now, just as diesels were starting to get some real traction here, VW goes and screws the pooch. I'm not sure diesels will ever fully recover from that here. 

Having said that, I own 2 diesels now, and have convinced several friends to purchase their own. They are all thrilled with their vehicles. So I will continue to spread the word!


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## J.J. (Apr 14, 2007)

Love my d


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## Enthusiast 456 (Jun 23, 2014)

Torque and the effortless cruising. Just love mine. The 44 mpg doesn't hurt either.


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## listerone (Jul 21, 2009)

At least 90% of my miles are driven at a steady 70MPH. For such driving modern diesels are unmatched.I'm on my third diesel (I totaled one) and will never go back.That is,unless the clowns at EPA rule otherwise.


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## dhhbmwfest (Jun 29, 2011)

listerone said:


> At least 90% of my miles are driven at a steady 70MPH. For such driving modern diesels are unmatched.I'm on my third diesel (I totaled one) and will never go back.That is,unless the clowns at EPA rule otherwise.


Totally agree here. The sweet spot for my GL is a steady 68 - though I don't usually cruise below 70.

"...unless the clowns at EPA rule otherwise." :rofl:


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## Nulevel (Sep 3, 2015)

Grit-torque-efficiency. 

I bought my first D (and first BMW) in the wake of VW-Dieselgate, so I was able to leverage that to my advg. when they offered the X5D; they had no clue that I was already sold on it, based purely on hours of pre-purchase research. 

Nothing better than the finesse-and-pull of the 415-lb. ft. torque. City/highway doesn't matter. It is a blast to drive. The D makes for a one-of-a-kind top vehicle in performance luxury.


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## FredoinSF (Nov 29, 2009)

Have not watched video, but here is how I ended up with and why I love my 2012 X5d.

My background: Born and raised in France where diesel cars became popular in the mid 70's. Dad's first diesel was a 78 Citroen CX 2200D if I recall correctly, which followed a 75 CX 2200 gasser (first model year, no diesels yet), then there was an another CX for 81, a 2500D. Dad drove a lot, they were company cars, hence diesel made sense. I thought they were great cars, but I might be biased by the fact that the 78 CX diesel is the first car I ever drove. I was 11, Dad let me drive it on the dirt road that led to our house from the D road, he'd put it in the garage himself. Sometime when I was 13 I was allowed to put it in second gear and pull into the garage. We moved to the US in late 1982 where his first car here was an 83 Buick Century V6. Other than moving cars out in and out of the garage for car washing or lawn mower access, I did not "drive" again until I was 16.
Over the years I've gone back to Europe regularly for both business and pleasure / family, rented cars on many of those occasions - mostly diesels. I was always impressed by the get up and go provided by the relatively small displacement turbo charged engines along with the fuel efficiency.

2009 - 2011
I started driving from San Francisco to Reno and back almost weekly due to my partner's parents failing health and consequent need for assistance. For those of you who don't know the terrain it's Highway 80 all the way, starting at near sea level in SF and going up Donner Pass in the Tahoe area at 7,700 feet. It might be California but it snows in the winter at higher elevations and CalTrans enforces chain requirements as soon as there is a threat of a single snow flake. Before the frequent trips to Reno I used to drive a 6 speed RWD E90 equipped with snow tires for winter, and while it was great in the snow and I tried to pass it for an X-Drive several times - those CalTrans chains guys are not terribly hard to fool. That being said it did not work all the time and with the frequent trips I got tired of the snow chain BS. I sold the E90 that I loved and bought somewhat of a beater 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee with 80k miles. It turned out to be an awful choice. Gas shot up to $4+ a gallon here, the thing would get 12 MPG on the climb to Reno, 17MPG on the drive down. I was spending >$80 per fill up every few days and barely getting 300 miles out of a tank. Despite the V8 the poor thing could barely get up the mountain and kept downshifting to make the climb, which did not make for a pleasant driving experience. Then it went on to leak every fluid imaginable starting at 88k miles, the straw that broke the camel's back was a blown head gasket at a little over 100k miles, at which point I ditched it and ordered a 6 speed MINI Countryman All4S.

2012
In early 2012 the CM enters SF to Reno duty. It was more fun to drive than the Jeep but I quickly realized I was too radical in my downsizing. It was inadequate for 2 adults, 2 dogs, and the amount of crap we hauled between both houses. It was loud and uncomfortable on the highway, and the clutch could not handle starts from complete stops on many hills in San Francisco. It also spent a lot of time in the service department. I quickly fell out of love with it. I tried to rekindle with mods and I ended up with a unique and cool car, but by the end of 2012 I knew I hated it and it would not be long before it would be gone.

2013
Jeep announced the US launch of a diesel engine for the Grand Cherokee in January. I wanted one. I read all about it and was very active in the Jeep forum. I tried to order but the initial March deliveries were pushed to April, then June, then September. I and many other forum members lost patience with Jeep's disastrous launch. I started looking at alternatives, BMW made sense given how many I've had. After searching for a while, I found a heavily optioned 2012 X5d BMW "exec" car with 10k miles in May 2013. The CM was traded for it. I only owned the CM for just under 18 months, 25k miles, and took a huge depreciation hit.

Today:
Still have the X5d and it checks all the boxes for my particular needs. I've loved it since day one, never a regret. It now has 61k miles or so, drives like a dream on the uphills (barely downshifts), tows easily, has enough room, is comfortable and quiet on the highway, I'm getting 24-25MPG on average even with the mountain highway driving and steep hills where we lived in the San Francisco area. I've had 3.5 years of zero service issues, it has simply been a terrific vehicle, we treat is as the beast of burden out of our five cars and it always delivers. The diesel engine is really a great match for this car IMO.

Future:
If anything were to happen to my X5 tomorrow, I would buy another one on the spot, and it would be another diesel. No question or doubt.
What about down the line? Will I buy another diesel when the X5 gets too old or too needy? Not quite so sure. I intend to keep it until 2023 or 200k miles or such a point that it starts developing a fetish for tow truck drivers and / or a torrid affair with my mechanic. Time will tell, but by then we might not be given a gas vs. diesel choice anyway. Given the VW dieselgate debacle, diesel's image is tainted and doomed in the US. I don't believe the ROI will be strong enough for BMW or Mercedes Benz to offer a diesel version when the current cars are replaced by new models - in the US at least. 

Sorry for long winded post, that got completely out of hand...


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## n1das (Jul 22, 2013)

If I someday add another diesel vehicle to my all-diesel fleet it likely will be a diesel pickup truck. I love my BMW diesels and they are long term keepers but I'm also getting the itch for a diesel pickup. The diesel pickup truck market does not appear to be threatened at all and is expanding. GM's Colorado and Canyon pickups look interesting. I'll stay away from the RAM 1500 EcoDiesel due to it developing a reputation for shattering crankshafts. The oil spec was recently updated from a 5W-30 oil equivalent to LL-04 to 5W-40 Shell Rotella T6 as RAM deals with the problem. The Ford F-150 DIESEL coming in 2018 also is a possibility. The Nissan Titan XD pickup with a 5L V8 Cummins Turbo Diesel also looks interesting.

With the USA's love for gas guzzling SUVs and pickups, diesel makes sense for these vehicles and would greatly improve their driveability. Manufacturers are under increased pressure to get the fuel economy numbers higher for these vehicles to meet ever increasing CAFE standards. Fear not, diesel is still alive and well.

I welcome diesel vehicles from any and all manufacturers.




Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk


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## Doug Huffman (Apr 25, 2015)

Amarok? I still get spam from VW Canada.


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## Flyingman (Sep 13, 2009)

Fantastic Video, thanks for posting it!:thumbup:

He hits the nail on the head, not to mention that in most of the rest of world diesel is cheaper than regular gas, sometimes by a lot.

I learned about diesel when my dad bought several of thos POS GM sedans with the 350 V-8 converted diesels like the Olds 88, Cutlass, Caprice, from the late 70's, early 80's. Man those really sucked!:tsk:

But my dad loved them for some strange reason I'll never understand. He used to drive from the US to Central America via Mexico, and I think diesel was about $0.08/gal at the time. You could drive cross country for about $12.00!

I was always sold on diesel engines but not in cars, on ships. Large diesel engines, upwards of 10,000hp each. It was my job.

Once I flew into Munich to make a visit to the MAN Diesel Headquarters in Augsburg and they picked me up in a VW Jetta Wagon, must have been a 2.0l, and the kid driving was doing like 240km/h down the autobahn and I realized the dam thing was flying, and it was diesel. The car was less than a year old and had over 100k kms on it already. It was their daily driver for the airport pick ups. You could have pushed me over when he told me it was a diesel.

Then I got to test drive a BMW 320 TD in Central America and I was hooked. Just needed to wait for something to be offered in the USA. Along came the 335D, and that is all she wrote.:bigpimp:


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## glangford (Dec 11, 2013)

Similar story. I visited my Aunt in Germany. We rented a car from Frankfurt and drove north about 4 hours in an Audi A3 TDI, fantastic car on the autobahn. I knew after that trip I'd have to have one. I was test driving VW TDI back here in late 2013 and comparing that to the BMW X1 (E90 version). I discovered quite by accident they had just come out with the 328d, and didn't look back.


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