Times of London plays with another cool diesel we can't have! BMW 123d
You may find this hard to believe, but there are lots of really cool and fun-to-drive cars available that get great fuel economy. Unfortunately for American drivers most of them can't be bought here. One prime example is the new BMW 123d coupe. While Americans will be able the recently introduced 1-series coupe soon, we will only get examples powered by the gas-fueled six cylinders from the 3-series. The 123d is motivated by BMW's new 2.0L turbo-diesel four with 204 hp and 298 lb-ft of torque. The Times of London got to sample one and, while they are no fans of the 1-series in general, when the car is powered by this diesel, it's a whole new ball-game. With a very respectable 0-62mph time of 7 seconds, it gets an official combined rating of 45.2 mpg (US) and CO2 emissions of 138 g/km. Even while thrashing the car for their test, the Times never dipped to even 30 mpg. Please BMW, give us the 123d!
[Source: Times of London]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jimbo 9:36PM (10/28/2007)
I hope they'll at least bring over this and/or the 3.0 L diesel sometime in the near future. I'm seriously considering a 1-series and a diesel would seal the deal.
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why not the LS2/LS7? 9:54PM (10/28/2007)
It's good BMW finally made a version of the 1-series that isn't a complete petroleum sucker.
The translation of the articles "never dipped to 30mpg" thing seems weird. They just say they never "used that much fuel". It's unclear if they meant they never touched 30mpg.
They say it's a bit loud from outside. Also, it's sure a lot of parts just to make 200HP. As a German car owner, I'm afraid more parts is just more parts to break.
But if it makes that mpg, it'll make a lot of friends fast. Even considering the extra energy in Diesel fuel, it's still very good efficiency for a car that powerful.
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MikeInNC 9:07AM (10/29/2007)
BMW is re-trying diesel in the US market with the 5 series. If that's a hit, I'm sure other models will follow. You can still get the old e28 body in a diesel here in the US. They are hard to find but when you do, they return about 36mpg from a mid 80's car too. Not bad.
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