BMW 330d review
BMW 3 Series 330d Sport Road Test
Test date 03 May 2000
Price as tested £30,925
For Performance, economy, handling, build quality, value, refinement
Against Weak air conditioning
In the form of the previous-generation E36 325tds, BMW came tantalisingly close to producing a diesel that matched the performance and refinement of its petrol equivalent. The new £26,995.
BMW wanted to make sure this supercar wasn’t left wanting in the performance department. Choosing an engine isn’t difficult when the in-house Motorsport boys have a V8 lying around, so that aspect was pretty well sorted straight away, but instead of bolting on a skin to an existing frame, BMW decided to design an all-new chassis rather than adapt the 5-series. The level of attention this car will get is pretty unprecedented: only 10 cars will be mostly hand-produced each day, and only 70 of those will come to the UK. Each 330d is the culmination of 17 years of BMW diesel technology and might just prove once and for all that the petrol-powered performance car is living on borrowed to time.
It has taken seven years for BMW to come up with a replacement for the venerable 2.5-litre diesel straight six. It has been worth the wait though. The new 2926cc in-line six uses every last nugget of contemporary diesel technology to produce 184bhp at 4000rpm and, this is not a misprint, 288lb ft from 1750-3200rpm.
BMW may have only started selling diesels in the UK in 1993 but the 330d can trace its lineage much further back than that. On the Continent, BMW sold the 524d as far back as 1983. The first diesel 3-series was the 1985 324d, but only when the 2498cc straight six engine was developed did the Bavarians have the confidence to sell them over here. The 325tds instantly became our favourite oil burner. The 530d was launched to wide acclaim in 1988, but we couldn’t wait to sample its engine in the Three, and we weren’t disappointed.
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