this post was submitted on 02 Jul 2023
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Cars - For Car Enthusiasts
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Thank you for keeping this on the road!
We still have a 1993 e34 525td with (I think) over 500k km on it. It is not road worthy but I couldn't get rid of it either. I am conflicted to put another diesel on the road at this time so I guess it will sit there for a while longer. It is a very very nice all-rounder that communicates very well to the driver.
Keep it running :D
i bet that td is a beast! i’ve been thinking about looking into a newer diesel bmw myself.
sitting next to my beamer in the driveway is a 1980 mercedes 300td i inherited, so i am keenly aware to diesel’s drawbacks. what was once cheaper than gasoline is now close to $5 a gallon for the past couple years, so it’s just been sitting.
both vehicles are great, the td is naturally aspirated though and slow as shit :-)
It was a fast diesel, in 1993. For today's standards both the 525td as well as the 525i would not be very impressive. The latter more than the former though. But the handling characteristics, driver communication and joy to drive were great back then and are still amazing today. The 525td had one of the smoothest diesel engines I have ever experienced. From the sound to the power delivery it is all a gradual and consistently predictive curve.
That 300td is a W123 with a 5 cylinder engine, right? We have a 240d, they don't easily rev up but they don't stall easily either. In their day, these were very respectable in terms of diesel car performance. They're very reliable work horses and generally nice to drive, though there's a very very big gap with the driving dynamics of the e34.
My main concern with the diesel is not as much the price as it is the impact on the environment. They're made for pleasure or the occasional freight hauling at this point. Keeping that in mind, the 240d (and thus also the 300td) are very accepting to alternative oil-like fuels, like biodiesel or really anything you can get your hands on. We used sunflower oil at some point. Make sure there's sufficient regular diesel for starting the engine. With how they behaved in their day, I doubt they'll pollute more with sunflower oil too.