Diesel Engines Remain in Next-Generation BMW 3 Series, X3: Report
BMW isn’t known for revolutionary design changes, so it likely won’t be hard to pick the upcoming 3 Series and X3 crossover out of a crowd of domestic and Japanese competitors. Nor will the models’ powerplants see a complete overhaul.
One somewhat surprising claim, given recent events, is that both next-generation models will retain a diesel option in the United States — and a new one, at that.
The claim comes by way of BMW Blog, which cites a Munich source with knowledge of the automaker’s product planning.
Currently, the BMW 328d packs a 180-horsepower diesel four-cylinder, while the X3, which is approved for the same mill, doesn’t currently list it as an option. The Munich source claims both models will receive the updated B47 version of BMW’s diesel family. That engine, also a 2.0-liter, should make 190 hp and 295 lb-ft of torque.
The engine output isn’t the only change in store for the America-bound oil burners. BMW will apparently change the diesel 3 Series’ name to 330d, while the X3 will adopt the xDrive30d moniker.
Even after Volkswagen gave the already low-demand fuel a dirty stigma, BMW forged ahead with plans to bring new diesels to the U.S. The automaker had to wait in an approvals backlog before its 2017 models were approved for sale by the Environmental Protection Agency. A diesel version of the X5 is also sold on the U.S. market.
While there is no firm arrival date for the next-generation 3 Series and X3, media reports claim the sedan should appear next year as a 2019 model, while the X3 will be a 2018 model. Recently, it was revealed the automaker has a 2018 540d in store for America, packing a 3.0-liter straight-six diesel.
[Image: BMW USA]
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@Hooligans "In Kuwait and Iraq I’ve seen luxuriously loaded Land Cruisers with turbodiesels and manual transmissions, for example. Why not here?" From the various US basedTrolls on this : the following answers (1) No one really wants them otherwise they would be already selling them (2) They do not meet the incredible US safety and emissions requirements (3) US already has vehicles that are as good (4)Yes they may have the Chicken Tax, but that does not really affect the price( Ha Ha) OEM's pay these Trolls to wander Auto sites.. Funniest was a character the was extolling the fantastic qualities of the Econoline, how much better it was than any European Van. When Ford brought out the Transit, he disappeared.
Why not ? BMW didn't play games, and their cars all passed pollution. These cars have been in the pipeline for a long time, and BMW has many markets where a gas car is rare...so it won't cost them much more to certify them for the US, they are already on a shelf somewhere. In most of Europe, it's 95% diesel...in Spain close to 100 %. Everyone has a short memory. In the time I bought my SUV, 2008, it was 2.50 gas, spiked to $4.50 gas, came back to $3 gas. I would not have replaced my TDi with a CTS unless gas was low, as going from 40 mph to 19 mpg is significant if you do 30k miles per year like I do-but it now costs the same to run the CTS as the TDi when prices were high. I see no reason (yes, I know tankers are stacked outside ports, and they even want to park them in the Hudson River near me) why fuel prices won't spike, and suddenly "Detroit was unprepared again" and "US market all gas guzzlers"..... Run gas prices back to $5/gal in the US and there will be a wait list for the d versions, and ADP stickers if higher.....
In 2013 I picked a 4 year old CPO BMW 335d with just 34,000 miles for 28K. It now has 97,000 trouble free miles, mostly accumulated on long high speed road trips, a task it does better than anything Ive owned previously. This thing is amazing....0-60 5.5 sec, 1/4 mile 13 sec, mpg @ 100 mph 30, top speed limited 155, unlimited 175. Show me another car at any price point that can match those numbers.
Can I get it in a brown wagon with a stick and AWD?