A Motortrend journalist's short take on the 335d:


BMW 335d: Born Again into the Spark Plug-Free Light
Posted Today 07:30 AM by Jonny Lieberman

For the past several years, my attitude towards diesels has been, “If you want to haul 10,000 pounds of horse manure, awesome. Otherwise, get a gasoline-powered car if you enjoy driving.” Why did I feel this way? Well, first of all, diesel-milled heavy duty trucks are really fantastic. Especially in regards to their truckiness. In fact, burning oil makes them feel more truck-like than a higher-reving gas-powered motor does. Plus, the modern ones can haul 10,000 pounds of manure with ease.

But what about diesel-engined passenger cars? Surely I like them, right? Nope, hate 'em. They sound like trucks as they clatter near idle -- it just doesn’t sound sporty and I prefer sporty cars. Worst of all (keeping with the sporty theme), they have low redlines. Like 70s big block and you’re worried about valve-float low. The Audi A3 TDI tops out at less than 5000 rpm. That’s not sporty. Or fun. Yes, there’s some low-down, down home torque, but not nearly enough of it. At least that’s how I used to think.

Which cars were those? The aforementioned Audi A3 TDI and the Jetta TDI, both the four-door and wagon. I really didn’t like either of them. Actually, that’s not fair. I hated the Audi, but thought the Jetta TDI Wagon would make the perfect car for my wife. Why my wife? She feels cars should do two things well: haul around half of your possessions and get good mileage. When I revved the engine of a Bullitt Mustang for her to demonstrate how totally, insanely mega-ridiculously good it sounds, her response was, “Sounds wasteful.” The big, stuff-swallowing, 40-mpg Jetta Wagon is the perfect car. For her.

Look, I just thought diesel cars were boring. But hey, based off my admittedly small sample set, I don’t think I could have come to a different conclusion. How big of a man am I? I was wrong about diesels. Totally wrong.

One of my first inklings into just how wrong I was came when I had a conversation with Angus MacKenzie about the Jaguar XJ diesel he drove around jolly old England (read all about it here). He loved it. And not in the way that people love their Priuses; those guys love the idea of the Prius, the actual car is immaterial. Angus however genuinely loved the diesel XJ in a serious car guy way. The passion in his voice, the wild hand gestures, his wide eyes -- it was like he’d just driven a Shelby Cobra for the first time. The glimmer of revelation was there.

I just had my own revelatory diesel moment about two hours ago. It went something like this. I climbed into our long term 2009 BMW 335d for the first time. I noticed the average mileage was an indicated 29.0 mpg. I then drove 120 miles down to San Diego. My speed was somewhere between 80 and 85 mph. When I handed the fob to the valet, the 335d’s average mpg had risen to 29.4. I’m simply awed.

Not only was the mileage good enough to put a huge crack in the fundamental theory of hybrids, but the car itself was excellent. Its handling is as good, if not slightly better, than any other E92 3 Series. Torque is everywhere, instantly available to rock the 335d back on its haunches at the stab of the pedal. Sure, above 90 mph the low-revving turbodiesel runs out of gas (so to speak), but that just doesn’t matter. The BMW 335d is the best car I’ve driven in a very long time. In fact, the 335d might just be the best car on the road. Shame about that $50,000-plus sticker price.

When I handed the fob to the valet, the 335d’s average mpg had risen to 29.4. I’m simply awed.