The new BMW M550d diesel will all but match the performance of the vaunted M5 gas model - but yield 50% better mileage.
Confirming a report first posted by TheDetroitBureau.com last summer, BMW will introduce an all-new line-up of high-performance diesel cars, including the new triple-turbo M550d that will all but match the off-the-line performance of the Bavarian maker’s celebrated, gas-powered M5.
The new diesel performance cars will debut later this year for sale through the company’s new M Performance brand.
The M-badged diesels will be officially introduced at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show and underscore the significant transformation of diesel power in recent years.
As BMW highlights in a recent series of commercials, diesel technology is no longer something buyers must suffer through as a trade-off for good mileage. But the fact that the new models could be some of the highest performers in the BMW line-up may nonetheless take potential customers by surprise.
The M550d delivers a good bit more torque than the M5, but less horsepower.
There will be three diesel models in the M Performance line: the X5 M50d, the X6 M50d, and the M550d. All will deliver a blend of surprising performance matched by as much as 50% better mileage than the comparable gas-powered M cars.
The final horsepower rating of the M550d will be lower than what BMW was originally hoping for when sources first confirmed the program last year, but the figures seem to underrate what the new sedan will be able to accomplish with its triple-turbo 3.0-liter inline-six. It’s now rated at 381 hp, 69 more than the standard diesel 5-Series but 179 hp less than the 2013 update of the gas-powered M5.
But torque is another matter entirely. The M550d will deliver 556 tire-spinning pound-feet of it compared to the M5’s 502 lb-ft. And that will help launch the new diesel muscle car from 0 to 100 kmh (0 to 62.5 mph) in just 4.7 seconds, just three-tenths of a second slower than the 4.4 liter V-8 M5.
The triple-turbo X6 M50d will launch from 0 to 100 kmh in 5.4 seconds.
Give credit to the combination of three turbochargers, common-rail direct injection with piezo injectors and maximum injection pressure of 2,200 bar. The three-turbo strategy, in particular, is designed to minimize any initial turbo lag, BMW engineers explain.
The X6 M50d, meanwhile, will hit 100 kmh in 5.3 seconds, the X5 M50d in 5.4 seconds. All will be offered with all-wheel-drive to ensure that all that torque is planted onto the ground.
Even with that level of performance, the fuel economy numbers are impressive, with the new diesels up as much as 50% over the gas M cars. In British trim, the M550d will deliver 44.8 mpg compared with 28.5 mpg for the M5. (That’s with the five-quart British gallon.)
Like the rest of the new M Performance family, the new diesel models don’t get the full M treatment. They won’t have all the distinctive badging and cladding, though there’ll be unique body kits and alloy wheels, as well as upgraded suspensions.
While BMW has been stepping up its effort to promote diesel products in the U.S., we’ll likely have to wait for the formal announcement in Geneva to see if and when the new diesel performance line will land at U.S. dealer showrooms.
Performance diesels are nothing new outside the US. One only needs to mention how restrictive and counterproductive the requirements to certify an engine in the US are to begin the story.
0-60 doesn’t begin to describe the power that is in the lower to mid-range acceleration where most people drive.
The 335d has been around since 2009, its engine being essentially the same as the M but only with two sequential variable vane turbo’s. It won international engine of the year in 2010 and was runner up in 2011. The 425 ft-lbs of torque at 1750 rpm is way more than even the M5 gasoline car and is totally awesome to drive.
In explaining to folks the dramatic improvement in diesel tech v what most Americans experienced in the past, I tell a tale on myself, going to a prior 3-Series launch in Spain and unknowingly getting into the wrong car. It took me a good bit of time and a fair bit of driving, only recognizing I’d gotten in the diesel provided for European colleagues and not the gas version already fired up for us Americans when we came to a large town and stopped for a number of lights.
Yes, Peter, the performance of a turbocharged diesel can be quite remarkable, especially at the low to mid-end. What’s significant about the new BMW models, such as the M550d, is that the triple-turbo design will enhance performance at all stages of acceleration.
I’m looking forward to driving one. It should be a great review.
Paul A. Eisenstein
Publisher, TheDetroitBureau.com