BMW diesels for Cadillac?

A excellent example of the triumph of brand image and marketing. The
Compact was, by many accounts, equalled or trounced in almost all ways by
'any old' Ford (performance, value for money, build quality) but still sold
very well. Despite somewhat outdated engines and no boot.

It's the badge...

DAS
--
For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling
---

"Andrew Thomas" > wrote in message
om...
[...]

> No, no BMW is unlikely to try *that* again. The Compact was very
> successful in Europe...
[...]

In article >,
GRL > wrote:
>It is a sweet unit. Drove one this summer. Excellent smoothness and
>acceleration. From inside, you can't tell it's a diesel.

Apparently, some of the contestants on the Amazing Race show couldn't
tell that some diesel SUV that they were driving was diesel, ignoring
the "diesel" sticker on the fuel filler area when refueling...

--
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Timothy J. Lee
Unsolicited bulk or commercial email is not welcome.
No warranty of any kind is provided with this message.

"Vernon Balbert" > wrote in message
. com...
> Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
> > In article > ,
> > Vernon Balbert > wrote:
> >
> >>It's interesting that nobody has pointed out that diesel fuel in the
> >>U.S. does not have a lot of availability. Most gas stations (at least
> >>in California and Oregon) don't carry diesel. Maybe one in eight or ten
> >>does.
> >
> >
> > Does this mean all trucks are petrol? Or do they use different filling
> > stations?
>
> Not at all. Semi trucks use diesel. But they don't drop into the
> neighborhood gas station that the bulk of the citizenry use to fill up.
> They do it at truck stops on the road between cities or in private
> pumps used at trucking companies.

Actually David, despite Vernon's experience in California, the use and
ownership of diesel pickup trucks in the US is at a high rate now and
growing every single year, despite adding about a 5 grand premium to the
purchase price. If people are buying 3/4-1 ton trucks a lot of them are
opting for the diesel and that number is growing and now there is

Here in Colorado, in the Denver metro area, probably 8 out of ten stations
have diesel. And that is the same in G Junction, C Springs, Pueblo, Ft
Collins...every metro/urban area in Colorado. Across the middle of this
country and in the south it is the same thing.

Distribution of diesel fuel, or availability for diesel owners would not be
an issue. It can easily be added to existing stations if the demand grows.

My pickup is an F350, 6.0 Powerstroke. 570 lb-ft torque and 325 hp. I can't
imagine having a petrol engine in my truck. I'd really like to see SUV's in
this country with diesels as well. For cars, I still want gasoline.

Your nose is right. LPG is as near as damn it pure C, H and O. No
impurities to give rise to a pong. Hence low taxes to encourage its use.
Drawbacks for saloons well-known. Giant storage tank grabbing valuable
luggage space. Can't use the Channel Shuttle (so 'trapped'), and in UK
still not so easy to find at filling stations.

On top of that, the Chancellor of the Exchequer (finance minister) will
clobber all users with heavy taxes if he loses a significant number of
petrol buyers who have fled to LPG. Already the guarantee of low tax is
running out in the next year or two and who knows what the review will
bring?

DAS
--
For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling
---

"Dave Plowman (News)" > wrote in message
...

[...]
.. And appear to have totally clean exhausts - to my
> nose at least.

In article > ,
Vernon Balbert > wrote:
>Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
>> The public are right. In the UK, even with its better fuel, you can still
>> smell a diesel - and it's not that pleasant. And many will still smoke
>> quite badly on full throttle.
>
>It may smell worse, but does it really put out more pollutants than
>gasoline (petrol)? It was my understanding that the amount of pollution
>was similar for both types of fuel.

Different kinds of pollution. Gasoline / petrol emits more carbon
monoxide, unburned hydrocarbons, and very small (invisible) particulates,
while diesel emits more nitrogen oxides and visible, smelly particulates.

--
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Timothy J. Lee
Unsolicited bulk or commercial email is not welcome.
No warranty of any kind is provided with this message.

...and slugs vs. the gas engines. Not true with the MB unit.


George Litwinski
"Somebody" > wrote in message
news
>
> "GRL" > wrote in message
> ...
> > How does MB manage to do it?
> >
>
> VW does a brisk business with the TDI models of the bug, Jetta, Golf,
> Passat. They're no BMWs, but they're not cheap, and they are German.
>
> -Russ.
>
>

Vernon Balbert wrote:

> Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

>> In article > ,
>> Vernon Balbert > wrote:

>>> It's interesting that nobody has pointed out that diesel fuel in the
>>> U.S. does not have a lot of availability. Most gas stations (at
>>> least in California and Oregon) don't carry diesel. Maybe one in
>>> eight or ten does.

>> Does this mean all trucks are petrol? Or do they use different
>> filling stations?

> Not at all. Semi trucks use diesel. But they don't drop into the
> neighborhood gas station that the bulk of the citizenry use to fill
> up. They do it at truck stops on the road between cities or in
> private pumps used at trucking companies.

Most trucks are diesel, including box vans and larger pickups. There are plenty
of diesel stations in southern CA, and plenty of truck stops too. I've owned a
couple of diesel cars, and driven many more. Getting fuel was never an issue.

Might I remind Vernon that transportation is LA's largest industry. The Port of
Los Angeles is the busiest in the Western Hemisphere. More stuff gets put on
trucks in LA than just about anywhere else. The Alameda corridor, running
between the harbor and downtown, is basically one big truck depot and rail yard.
So there's plenty of diesel around. If not right by your house, then no more
than a few blocks away. Even if it's one in ten gas stations (and it's actually
more than that), the sheer number of gas stations ensures diesel is always
nearby. This is a non-issue. Full stop.

Vernon needs to get out more, and see what's around him.

> Here in L.A. area there are some cities that use LPG for buses and
> other public vehicles and yes, they're pretty clean.

Actually, more of those buses and fleet vehicles use CNG, which is the cleanest
of all internal combustion fuels (in current use).

> However, I have
> no information on how well these engines perform. I mean am I going
> to get 215 hp from a 3 liter LPG engine? This isn't why I bought my
> beemer, but it's a nice feature about it.

If your car was built especially for propane, it would make more power than
gasoline. Propane allows a higher compression ratio, and mixes better with air.
In the 80s, converting to propane was one way to legally modify an engine for
more power, and an easy way to make a dirty engine smog-legal. Morgans were
propane powered for this reason. Dual-fuel cars don't get the power boost,
because they need the lower compression ratio to run on gasoline.

Doesn't BMW sell propane cars for certain parts of Europe, such as Denmark?

Matt O.

What, not "period"?

Not born in the USA maybe...?....

DAS
--
For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling
---

"Matt O'Toole" > wrote in message
...
[...]
> Full stop.
>
[...]

Dori A Schmetterling wrote:

> What, not "period"?
>
> Not born in the USA maybe...?....

American born and bred, but been around a bit.

Matt O.

"GRL" > haute in die Tasten:

> They make sedans that are, largely, the most fun to drive. They make
> mediocre, space inefficient, SUV's.

Given the fact that most SUVs are spending more than 99% of their lifespan
on paved surfaces, there is hardly another SUV which is so much fun to
drive as an BMW X5 4.4i;-)

BMW does not make heavy duty 4x4 all terrain cars like a Hummer H1, a
Mercedes G-Model and a Land Rover Defender. But they also do not pretend to
do this.

Frank

--
please replace spam-muelleimer with fk-newsgroups for e-mail contact

Citroen - Made in Trance