Heiss5

Does anyone have the 40-70 mph, or 50-70 mph times for both a 530i and a 530d? I am interested to see the difference.

needforspeed

As speeds increase torque is still what makes your car accelerate, but the problem is how to get it at high RPM's.... this is where petrol engines have the edge over diesel.

Horsepower and torque are just different ways of expressing the same thing - the main difference is that torque is a rotational force and horsepower is way of looking at it as a linear force:


Horsepower = torque * rpm / 5252

This is quite a useful explanation:

http://vettenet.org/torquehp.html

needforspeed

530d max torque 500nm at 1750rpm

0-60 = 6.8 secs
50-70 = 5.1 secs

530i max torque 300nm at 2500rpm

0-60 = 6.5 secs
50-70 = 6.6 secs

550 max torque 490nm at 3400rpm
0-60 = 5.5 secs
50-70 = 5.2 secs

Like I said the 530d has similar levels of torque to the 550 and when it is available it is just as quick

535d has 560nm of torque and M5 has 520nm - BMW's website doesn't list 50-70mph in gear times for these cars, but clearly the 535d should be faster

Does this begin to explain the deisel thing ???

pedrollo

power is torque x speed. Consequently, comparable petrol cars nearly always have higher torque, but it will always be at higher engine speed.

You either like the lazy pull (which is fantastic with an auto box) or you like to rev its bits off - and that argument will never be resolved.

My 535d shows 30 mpg average on the computer, previous T5 Volvos (all I can compare with) of similar performance were about 23/24.

How Heiss managed 40+ mpg from a 530i I will never know, I couldn't do it. Imagine what he could do with a diesel

525dse

Thanks

Heiss5

needforspeed, can you tell me where you got those numbers, or post the link?

Heiss5

I did it when I drove from Washington to Michigan, since I'll be doing it again at the end of this week I'll see if I can duplicate it. I was shocked too, I couldn't believe my car could get that kind of gas mileage. I was happy with the standard 23-26 mpg I had normally seen driving around town and to work. Once I saw 32-36 mpg I was speachless. I actually called my dad several times during the trip to brag.

needforspeed

Heiss my data came from here:

http://www.bmw.co.uk/bmwuk/pricesandspecif...t-bmwuk,00.html

Extra urban (constant 56 mph) official figures for the 530i are only 42.8 mpg, so I am thinking the figures you have supplied maybe in imperial gallons rather than us. Are you reading them off the obc or working them out from scratch?

Perhaps other USA drivers can advise if their cars are recalibrated for US gallons?

Heiss5

I read them off the OBC and I've been saying that the best I've gotten was between 33-36 in US gallons, which works out to be about 40-43 in Imperial gallons, so as far as I know that lines up with the official figures, right?

Also, thanks for the link. I now completely agree with all of you that the 530d accelerates faster than the 530i from 50-75 mph in same gear (4th). And although it is only fair to do a test in the same gear from 50-75 mph, I still feel that in real life driving the 530i would beat a 530d for one reason. If I were going to accelerate from 50-75 I would downshift, and even if the 530d did the same thing, he wouldn't have as much torque or horsepower as I would if he did, since he would be at higher RPMs and with a diesel you don't get as much torque or horsepower at higher RPMs.

Now, I know some of you are going to think I'm crazy for saying that, but... I'm sure we all know how they run those tests. They put the car in 4th gear, get it up to 50 mph, then punch the gas and go until 75 mph. There is no shifting. So yes, if I were to simply do that against a 530d I would loose, and the 530d would keep up with the 550i. But, no one in a 530i or 550i would allow that to happen if they were really racing, they would both downshift and then the 530i and especially the 550i would accelerate faster. I'm not looking for an arguement and I like the way our discussion has gone thus far, so I hope we can keep it clean. I have no problem with anyone disagreeing with me, I just don't want this to turn personal. I really appreciate everyones input.

norham

Imo we should all buy our fuel in the US this way we'd get better figures........yea?
If it is as it appears this post is all about cost etc then why does the cost of the respective vehicles and the fuel not enter the equasion. In the UK Diesel is more expensive than petrol and as for torque HP etc a petrol car will always be faster than a diesel simple fact.