hondik

Alright here it is. As much as I have fought for diesel engines and needless to say they are great, on our Old Continent where most people are very conservative and you have 30 to 1 530d to 530i ... I decided to get a petrol engine in my next car. Why?

• The cost of Petrol fuel and Diesel fuel is the same
• The cost of Petrol engines is better + with V8s or higher, you get full options as standard
• Petrol engines are lighter
• The consumption gets almost the same in high power cars (What's the difference between 10-12liters of diesel and 12-16liters of petrol when you get 50% more hp)
• The sound of petrol engine is MUCH BETTER
• I know diesels are all about the torque but who needs to tow plowghs these days?
• The lifetime of petrol engine is greater than diesel engines, not mentioning turbos and cooldown periods + standard care

What made me change my opinion? Among those above I drove new X5 4.8i this weekend. What a shame we have no 545is and 550is here! I have seen more M5s that V8s E60s in Europe.

I'd like to hear your opinions and experience.

pukka

Interesting.

In the states, Diesel is almost $1 higher than any of the Petrol types. Although still not as expensive as a gallon overseas, gas prices in the U.S. are at pretty much all time highs. And this is at a time when BMW is starting to launch diesel sales in the U.S.

I've also been reading alot lately on how Lexus is dominating the luxury hybrid market. I've even spoen with a few Lexus Hybrid SUV owners who said that once they learn the proper gas pedal technique they are getting 40+mpg.

It would be interesting to see how the diesel vs. hybrid strategy pans out in the U.S.

525iSE

Diesel are all about torque, lesser consumption, and, yeah thats all I can think of. Remapped diesel gains more hp than remapped petrol, overall, they're the same. Whichever choice you make, you won't regret it. If you really really like a high rev engine, get petrol, diesel doesn't really rev high at all.

skylolow

Price of Diesel is the biggest killer in the U.S.. Like the other poster said a $1 a gallon more here. We all know Diesel gets more MPG but I believe (haven't worked out the math) with the price difference your better MPG is wiped out by the cost of diesel if not actually costing you more to run diesel. Not too mention the buck more a gallon is being thrown in your face everytime you fill up so even if you're saving a little its still a slap in the face with each fill up.

Not to mention you typical U.S. consumer still looks at Diesel=Noisey, Stinky, and Smokey.

Hybirds seem to really be just killing diesel car movement in the U.S.. Got a buddy who manages a Toyota dealership and he says the new Highlanders people are never avg. less 25 MPG for a tank. He says once you learn to drive it you can easily climb that number up 3 to 5 MPG more. Which is pretty amazing out of a good size SUV.

tume

I would disagree that petrol engine life is greater than that of a diesel.

BMDiesel

I prefer the petrol versions for the mentioned reasons plus that I'm annoyed by the diesel-tractor sound at idling (traffic jams etc) also at normal speeds it's more quiet in a 520 petrol than a 525 diesel. I love the sound of the engine when it's performing but at other times I don't want to hear it. So my next car, if a BMW, will most likely be a petrol version.