Diesel - United Bimmer Community

**Orefus** · 07-12-2006, 05:36 PM

With gas at 3.25 a gallon diesel is where its at. I own a 99 solara, it packs a 3.0 v6, and gets 20 a gallon. Im thinking of ditching it and getting a diesel. The only problem i face is that in America there are little diesels to go around. The only ones i consider are the mercedes ones. My question is what are the decent diesels under 12k?

**Chris** · 07-12-2006, 05:53 PM

uhhh pony up a little more dough and get a 2006 jetta TDI they get 605 highway miles to the tank.

witeshark · 07-12-2006, 06:04 PM

I have decided that my next car - especially any new one will be a diesel

**Orefus** · 07-12-2006, 06:17 PM

how much more dough?

**xsperf** · 07-12-2006, 06:18 PM

you can definately get a mercedes diesel for < 12K, it wont be brand new, but it will be fairly new. also, many jettas and volkswagons in general are diesel, and if your not trying to save gas, there are plenty of trucks

**Orefus** · 07-12-2006, 06:30 PM

the merc, can you give me some models

witeshark · 07-12-2006, 06:37 PM

300d and 300sd are very popular

**xsperf** · 07-12-2006, 06:40 PM

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1999-...QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1998-...QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/97-E3...QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1996-...QQcmdZViewItem

**Orefus** · 07-12-2006, 07:43 PM

some of these cars have like 150k+ miles on them, are they durable, and do you think its worth it owning a diesel, i mean they get like 40% more gas milage than regular cars.

**sbcBMW305v8** · 07-12-2006, 07:49 PM

i have a 1990 mazda 323 that gets around 39 mpg
and i bought the car for 100 bucks
which is pretty good because my bimmer get about 10 mpg

**Chris** · 07-12-2006, 07:58 PM

2006 TDi MSRP 21 you can get them off any dealer lot for around 19.5k
Extremely Safe, Extremely fuel efficient. And IMHO, a better choice than spending 12k for something that isn't new and could have many many problems.

Transmissions
5-Speed Manual Overdrive Std.
6-Speed Automatic Overdrive Opt.

Fuel Economy
City (mpg) 35 - 36
Highway (mpg) 41 - 42

**xsperf** · 07-12-2006, 08:12 PM

yes, the diesels will last a lot longer and are generally much more reliable, oh, and they have little horsepower but a ton of torque and usually a low RPM redline, so 150K is nothing for a diesel, ive seen those trucks(the ones w/18 wheels) go for over 1 million miles, look on ebay...

**doughboyea** · 07-12-2006, 08:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orefus

some of these cars have like 150k+ miles on them, are they durable, and do you think its worth it owning a diesel, i mean they get like 40% more gas milage than regular cars.

Diesels are more reliable than most gas engines. Seeing a diesel with 200k mi is nothing..... Semi's use diesels, usually like 16L six's, but they have somewhere in the 500k to 1 million miles on them. An automatic transmission will be the only limiting factor for drivetrain durability. My mom had a 240d Mercedes. The transmission lasted until 230,000 mi. The engine kept on running though. If we had the $2k to replace that tranny, we'd still have that beast sitting in our driveway.

I personally definatly think it's worth owning a diesel. Aside from the above mentioned durability, they have more fuel efficient as you mentioned and maintenence wise, cost less too. For my mom's 240d, the only thing we did was an oil change. Diesels don't need a tune-up as we gas driving people do.

The only negatives for diesels are that for certain models, if you live in very cold climates, starting her up may become a problem as the fuel needs to be at a warmer temp. Most early Mercedes diesels have an electrical cord comming out of the engine that is used to run a heater (i think) for the fuel and/or glow plugs. The other negative is it really isn't as enviromentally friendly as gasoline.

If you were to go after the Mercedes family of diesels, I recommend a 300 or higher series D. Anything less and your dealing with a VERY low powered engine. Again, our 240d was a 2.4L 4 cylinder at 67HP. Not very powerfull is it, though later models such as the 300D had a turbo charger and two extra cylinders to come to 3.0L putting out ~130hp. Also, for diesels, it's not about the HP but the torque.

Some people may also complain about the sound. I personally love the sound they make, sounds of POWER. But, in honesty, the newer models are easier on the ears, in fact, VW's more recent models have almost no diesel sound comming from them. Mercedes' new diesel's are REALLY quiet, they're also really expensive too.

I hope I've leaned you somewhat closer towards them.

Dough

**cainchapman** · 07-13-2006, 12:42 AM

VW Passat 2.0 Diesel with DSG is the way to go, or the Golf as it has the GTI running gear.

drz · 07-13-2006, 12:19 PM

Go with a new VW turbodiesel. I really like diesel. I wish more diesel-powered vehicles amde it stateside. I would like a new 335d.