The best diesel engine in the world

BBC Top Gear

BMW 535d
[August 04 2004]


Tradition be damned. There isn't going to be some intricate denouement to this review of the new BMW 535d, no finely crafted build up to a literary pun-tastic crescendo. The fact is this: the BMW 535d has the best diesel engine in the world.

There, that's that out of the way. Now I can tell you why. This is a development prototype car, one generation off pre-production but to all intents and purposes exactly what we'll be getting in the UK come next September in both Saloon and Touring versions.

There's no point in talking too much about the styling other than to say it looks exactly like a stock 5 apart from a 535d badge and twin (visible) exhaust tailpipes like those on a 545i. Take it or leave it, it really doesn't matter. You'll buy this car for the engine.

Don't be fooled by the 535 bit. This isn't a 3.5-litre unit. In order to stop the Germans calling it the 530 'Top' (seriously) we Brits insisted on something else. So we get a 535 that's actually a 530d with some rather trick sequential turbocharging.

Basically BMW has taken a three-litre straight-six diesel and added BMW's Variable Twin Turbo Technology. This takes two turbos of different sizes and applies them at different points in the rev-range to maximise drivability as well as sheer power and torque. A little one develops boost pressure quickly because of the lower inertia of a smaller turbo rotor, meaning that you get lots of torque quickly and low-down the rev-range. When that starts to lose out as the revs rise, a bigger blower kicks in later, with some margin of overlap, to ensure a linear spread of torque.

What does this mean? 272bhp and 413lb ft of torque. Put simply, it'll pull your head off. Throttle response is better, you don't have to wait for boost and as soon as you depress the accelerator, the car lunges until it hits the limiter above 150mph. It simply doesn't pause for breath. The gearbox is ideal, the torque astonishing. The high-speed cruising potential is massive.

Mated to an automatic six-speed only (there isn't actually a manual in BMW's closet that can handle all that torque), the 535d is smooth, refined, economical, EU4 compliant and bloody powerful.

It even does more than 35mpg on the combined cycle and is clean enough to expose its tailpipes because of a new particulate filter that sieves out all the heavy soot particles. There, that's it. I have no finale to wow you with. I'll just let this car do it instead.

Tom Ford


Model: BMW 535d
Rating: 16 out of 20
We say: Without doubt the best diesel engine in the world. What more is there to say, really?
Price: £36,750 (saloon)
On your drive for: £990pcm
Performance: 0-60mph in 6.5secs, max speed 155mph (ltd), 35.3mpg
Tech: 2993cc six, RWD, 272bhp, 413lb ft, 1660kg, 211g/km CO2

Original article is here

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