BMW to introduce 3-series that gets under 120g/km of CO2
The advent of changes to London's congestion charge that makes the fees based on a vehicle's carbon dioxide emissions has prompted many automakers to tweak some of their models to get their emissions down. Any car that emits less than 120g/km of carbon dioxide is exempt from having to pay the charge. The latest brand to go after that threshold is BMW with their 318d. The existing version is rated at 123g/km, so BMW will make some changes to get into the charge free band. BMW engineers feel they can meet the challenge with the 318d. The smaller 118d already achieves 119g/km with it's start-stop system and brake energy regeneration. Both cars use a 1.8L four cylinder turbodiesel. Some changes in gearing, lower rolling resistance tires and some aero tweaks may be all it takes to meet the target.
[Source: AutoCar]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
eddy 4:46PM (4/28/2008)
Finally, the first big German car that gets less than 120 g CO2 per 100km. If BMW is first in one field, the other 2 German luxury brands will follow soon. Audi is working on their modular efficiency architecture and Mercedes is starting their blue-efficiency line-up.
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Mirko Reinhardt 4:49PM (4/28/2008)
The 318d is powered by a 2.0L diesel - all current BMW 4-cylinder diesels are 2.0L, and all 6-cylinder diesels are 3.0L.
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rob 9:10PM (4/28/2008)
And none of the small ones will be sold in the US because of marketing -- it would hurt BMW USA's carefully crafted "premium" image. They'll just keep rolling the CAFE penalties into the price.
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scott 4:50PM (4/30/2008)
Does anyone have a conversion constant for converting GM CO2/KM to MPG?
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May 10:09AM (4/29/2008)
I only want to notice that this fuel consumption are false because in real world driving the 118d emits 47% more than 123g/km.
In this version probably the gap will be even more larger.
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Mike Smith 12:51PM (4/29/2008)
#4: How do you know that? Do you have figures to back that up?
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May 3:02PM (4/29/2008)
http://www.repubblica.it/2007/12/motori/motori-dicembre-2007/motori-scandalo-consumi/motori-scandalo-consumi.html
the table with the percentage is in the link "TABELLA"
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eddy 5:00PM (4/29/2008)
Ahh, this is based on the "Autobild test".
First:
Autobild is part of the Axel-Springer-group: They produce the worst tabloid in Germany and are openly making propaganda for the German conservative party. Normally anything German with "Bild" in its name is full of lies or misinformation.
In this case the tests were heavily biased, by high-performance driving and top-speed intervals.:
For short Bild people were looking for a big headline.
http://www.repubblica.it/motori/euro/consumi2_auto_index.html
In this table which is basing on the same tests, even cars which are known for optimized fuel efficiency like the Fiat Panda or the Toyota Prius have 40% more emissions. Of course it is absolutely normal that personal driving styles can result in higher emission values than the ones measured in the EU test cycle. In this case there were some dirty tricks by BILD to get sensational numbers (top speed on the Autobahn, city driving with the Diesels, long distance with the hybrids, irregular shifting, congested cities, deactivated eco-features). Normally this numbers don't differ so extremely.
F.E. with my A6 2.0 TDI I have an average consumption which is just 5% to 10% higher than what the EU test cycle says.
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