Ok I am thoroughly confused by the performance of this 535d. All I Hear about is how much torque and how fun this car is to drive etc. However after reading reviews and looking on the UK bmw site it lists and every sources lists its 0-60 time in the 6.4ish range.

The 258hp 530 with WAY less torque had a 0-60 time a bit lower than that and the new 530 with 272 has a 6.2. 0-60 time which is quicker or as quick as the 535 d with about 200 extra foot pounds of torque.

I thought I understood torque and everyone seems to explain torque as the feeling of acceleration but why would the 535 d not blow the doors off the 530?

The only thought I have is you have to shift gears 3 times to get to 60 in a 535d and you only have to shift 2 times in a 530 due to max rpms but can someone enlighten me

 

Another discussion about the crappy 535d ?
0-200 kmh in 25s . The 550i 18s .

S-e-v-e-n seconds . Dear 535d, sorry, no way
BMW for the 550i declares 5.1s on the 0-100, so 4.9s on the 0-60 .

It isn't funny to drive : it's smelly, noisy, dirty and boring with the step .

 

Hahahaha. I love your posts Alex. They never ever fail to raise a smile

 

well done alex, crappy!!!!!

 

The 530i is a little faster on the 0-100 for the following reasons :
a) manual transmission (automatic transmission on the E60 wastes 15 HP more than the manual)
b) the 530i should be lighter
c) less torque to put down at the start .




They have almost the same HP, so the 535d can't 'blow the doors off' .
Torque is not everything .

 

How useful is "0 to 60" in every day driving? You need most of your power when you are say doing 40mph in a 60mph line of traffic and want to overtake. Or doing 55 in a 60 and want to overtake. Or hell, doing 65 in a 60 and want to overtake. The 535d is an overtaking monster. Put a 530i next to a 535d at 30mph and see which one leaves the other one standing!

If you want to have the argument for modding, see the results of a DMS remap in my signature. 0-60 is now around 5.5 ish (unverified on my car, but verified on another DMSd 535d). Add the sprint booster on to that, which I've been told probably knocks a bit more off.

535d will also give quite a bit better mpg for general driving. Diesels tend to be the choice for people who cover a lot of miles.

I am not necessarily saying the 535d is a "better car" than the 530i. Petrol cars are great, and I love them. But I love my 535d, and could have easily bought the 530i (infact a 540i) for the same price. I think in the UK, powerful diesel cars are also more environmentally acceptable than big fat petrol engines - you are less likely to get somebody "keying" it (e.g. vandalising it) !!

Oh, and BMW website shows 0-62 as 6.5 for 530i and 6.4 for 535d both autos (which is the only config option available on 535d) to keep things fair.

 

Absolutely - the only thing worse than a 535d with step is a 545i with SMG. *SPIT*

 

I hate to break it to you but but if they are the same from 0-60 than they will be the same from 30-60. 0-60 is a useful every day measure because most of us dont drive faster than 60 unless cruising down the freeway. We usually accelerate at speeds somehwere in the range of between 0-60.

I know they have virtually the same hp and torque is not everything-so what good is all that torque if it is putting out the same numbers as the 530 with half the torque. That really is an illustration of how hp is the measure to go by when looking how fast a car is.

I am not knocking the 535d-I was just a bit confused since I thought the 535d would be much faster.

I am also surprised to see on the UK site that both the 530 and 535d are only .2 seconds slower than the 540 to 60. That is pretty impressive for some inline 6 engines.

And of course I am not talking modability-the diesel has turbos so of course it is way more easily tuned

Anyway I was just curious but nobody has really answered why this is-does the torque not pull you threw your acceleration?

 

That's not true ...
Let's say they both do 0-60 in 6.5s just to keep it simple.

The 530i will be faster 0-30, that's the nature of petrol
So let's say the 530i gets from 0-30 in 3.5s, but the 535d takes 4.5s

So now - to get from 30-60, the petrol takes another 3s. But the 535d takes only 2s.

These numbers are just for illustration - but you can't say that just because they get from 0-60 in the same time, means that they would be side by side for all of this.

I guess the other important thing is the test conditions for the 0-60 on the website. My car is loaded with lots of heavy options. And I am big and fat. Torque comes in to it's element when it has to shift weight. I reckon a 535d would kill a 530i if it were an uphill 0-60 with lots of options and a fat driver.

 

haha that is pretty funny-way to be modest about yourself! haha

ANyway good point but I actually think it might be reversed.

Assumign both get traction off the line-the torque of the d will jump to a start for the first half or so of the race but since it has to shift 3 times, towards the latter part of the sprint the i will be still in 2nd at the peak of its horsepower plus in a gear lower.

So I actually think from 30-60 the i would be quicker. Who knows after 60 what would happen-I honestly am not saying the i is any better-I am just trying to understand how a car with equal hp but twice the torque compares-like what does it do better with all that torque that the i does not do-that is what I am getting at.

Good discussion though-Sounds like your d is a blast with 338hp wiht the remap-must be a rocket