The 5 Series Diesel Range Gets an Update
Turbos are fun, and when you strap one to a diesel, you can have epic amounts of fun. When you put one in an already awesome-handling BMW, you have a recipe for greatness. I recently drove a BMW diesel and I had loads of fun. It was also amazingly efficient. To perform better with emissions and MPG figures, BMW has just launched a brand-new set of engines for the 5 Series.
The amount of torque from a turbo diesel is seriously insane, especially when you consider most passenger car diesels are really tiny. That’s the market BMW is going for with the new 518d and 520d. The new engines, both with four cylinders, offer the use of BMW’s patented TwinPower Turbo design, which helps the larger cars scoot along.
For the 518d models, the engine makes 150 hp with 266 lb-ft of torque, and the 520d models get a bit beefier with 190 hp and 295 lb-ft of torque. Essentially, these new engines see a pretty healthy gain in both fuel economy and emissions without sacrificing the drivability of the car. What makes them still the sporty BMWs we all know and love is where you have access to that torque. On these cars, peak torque comes in at 1,750 rpm. That’s essentially the “sleep mode” of the rev range. Many cars make peak torque somewhere in the 3,000-5,000 rpm range, so with the Bimmer, oomph is just about as instantaneous as you can get without going fully electric.
After driving around the 5 Series diesel a few weeks ago, I am very much looking forward to getting behind the wheel of these cars.
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