LarryN
Member
Registered: Jun 2000
Location: Pembroke,MA
Posts: 307 |
quote: Originally posted by ToolkiT
Larry, the smaller engines in the european models do not mean lower power...
The fuel in europe is heaps better than in the US and the engines are better tuned...
I agree the BMW's in europe are lower end models than the ones in the US...
I think you must mean the diesel fuel. I believe the unleaded (bleifrei) petrol is very close to the same. Unfortunately, BMW doesn't even offer the diesel model over here, because there's no interest (although if the US sold the same diesel blend that Europe enjoys, people might adopt it here). The smaller displacement diesel engines have lot's 'o torque, and feel quite brisk. The regular petrol smaller displacement models (316i, 520i...) are pretty lack luster on performance. My cousin in Germany has a 520i, and I had a 316i rental. They were both pretty doggy.
Also, as of model year 2000, the Euro spec M engines and the US spec M engines are tuned exactly the same. There is a 2-5 hp decrease in US models due to emission controls. Other than that, they have the same output. The non-M cas have been the same engines/tuning for the last 10 years, differing only in emissions.
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