The Spies have been on the whirlwind tour over the last few weeks covering the 2007 Frankfurt Auto Show, BMW Diesel press program (Munich), Infiniti EX (Santa Monica) and now the Toyota Land Cruiser (Montana).
So you can look forward to some great coverage of a lot of new cars and trucks over the next few weeks…
For this article, we’ll focus on an exciting introduction coming to all 50 states by the end of the year.
The return of the diesel BMW’s to the United States.
Ok, we know what you’re thinking…
Diesels are dirty, bad for the environment, slow, noisy and Hybrid’s are the way to go, blah, blah, blah.
Well, guess what?
Based on the cars we tested…BMW 335d wagon and 535d wagon, you would be 100% wrong.
Quite simply, these are the two best daily drivers we’ve driven since we’ve had driver’s licenses.
And we’ve had our licenses for a long time.
The BMW diesel’s that will hit our shores in 2008, clean, no worse for the environment than a gasoline car sold today, fast, quiet and on balance better than any Hybrid on the market today.
They will also last longer than any Hybrid, get as good or better mileage, are easier to service, have better torque, give you REAL trunk space and they possess the magical BMW performance and handling characteristics that so many others try to imitate.
So if you have pre-conceived notions about diesel’s, get over them.
We believe if you don’t put them on your test drive list, you’re making a big mistake.
THEY’RE AWESOME!
The one thing BMW didn’t tell us is what models will hit our shores, but the scuttlebutt is that it will be the 5-Series and X5 in automatic configurations only (before you blast off, there aren’t 335 manuals yet, EVEN in Europe because the manual can’t handle the awesome torque on these new models).
But we’re sure they’re working on manuals that will work soon…
Was there any downside?
Well, kind of.
We got the feeling that the 3-Series diesel won’t make it to the USA for 2008.
That wouldn’t confirm or deny, but 001 had his antennae up and that was the vibe.
I hope I’m wrong and if they don’t, I think they are making a mistake.
And here’s why…
Who has the memories of bad diesel’s….35 year olds?
No, the 50+ market.
So why waste your time trying to re-convince someone who already is suspect about them?
We say, market the 335d to the younger ‘cool’ crowd and make diesels look cooler than iPhone’s and the old fogies will follow, because they want to feel young.
Also, don’t do what Mercedes has done with their E-Class diesel…make it look old and doughty by not having it outfitted in sport mode…wheels, body kit, etc.
On day one, only offer the diesels as sport models with the hottest looking sport kits, colors and wheels to juice up the youth.
We also don’t think their decision was engraved in stone so there is still time to get them to get the 335d here in the USA.
So let them know in our blogs that you want to see the 335d on the list of available models.
We'll be first in line to buy one if they do.
And, besides the photos of the cars, enjoy the photos of Munich, the surrounding areas and some of the cultural pluses of the German basic cable televison system. ;)