BMW's Impressive 123d

BMW's Impressive 123dI was in the England this past weekend and put about 400 miles on a BMW 1-series coupe with over 100 hp per liter. Sure, 100 hp per liter isn't overly impressive these days but did I mention this BMW was a diesel, a twin-turbo diesel?Like our long-term 135i, the 123d isn't fabulous looking from certain angles, it has a crashy, overly aggressive ride, and isn't very space efficient. But the diesel 1-series has one major thing going for it. It is very fun to drive like the 135i but it gets excellent fuel economy. I put 400 miles on the oil burner in the UK over the weekend. I did near 300 miles of fast motorway driving (90-110 mph) and about 100 miles at a very quick pace on the back roads. I averaged an indicated 40 mpg U.S. I'm sure a much more conservative drive would net near 50 mpg. Not bad for a car that will hit 60 mph from a stop in a shade under 7 seconds and not stop accelerating until near 150 mph. The aluminum block diesel engine develops 204 hp and 295 lb-ft of torque at 2000 RPM. The only time I wished for more power was 70-90 mph passing on the narrow English back roads. Sure, the 123d is torquey and rockets away from corners but 204 hp is 204 hp. A 135i (which has near 100 more hp) would easily beat a 123d in a drag race. But the 123d gets near double the fuel economy. On the flight home, I thought about the 335d and it's forthcoming arrival in the States. Sure, that engine has tons of power (286 hp and 428 lb-ft of torque) but its offered only with an automatic tranny, taking away some of the fun. Most importantly, the six-cylinder engine is quite a bit thirstier than the four-cylinder in the 123d. Which brings me to my dream BMW. The 1-series is too small for me. A 3-series wagon is pretty much perfect. Give me a 323d manual wagon and I'd be happy. It would offer BMW driving dynamics, wagon utility, and Prius economy. If only BMW could get rid of those ride-ruining run-flat tires and tune their dampers with less rebound, it might just be the perfect car for modern times. Read More | Digg It | Add to del.icio.us