Blue Ridge, Green Power
The route: 470 miles, from the BMW Performance Center in Spartanburg, South Carolina, to a lake house in Virginia. Getting there means crossing a stretch of mountainous Blue Ridge Parkway, dotted with great-sounding names, like Tuggle’s Gap, Bubba’s Barbecue and Meadows of Dan.
The highway gives way to scenic mountain roads, offering a variety of surfaces, elevations and turns – making it an ideal itinerary for a BMW road test.
In balmy September weather, green is the rule in this part of the country; this perfectly describes the newest BMW Advanced Diesels, the 335d and X5 xDrive35d. These are two of BMW’s cleanest, greenest models ever, featuring the latest diesel engine technology that won the “2008 World Green Car of the Year” award.
And the good news isn’t simply ecological: their 3-liter, twin-turbo, inline six-cylinder engines offer 425 lb-ft of tarmac-shredding torque and a mighty 265 horsepower. With highway mpg ratings of 36 for the 335d and 26 for the X5 xDrive35d, both vehicles travel up to 580 miles on a tankload. TEAM Productions, a division of Woodcliff Lake, NJ-based BMW Group University Studios, is here to film the event.
The logistics were considerable: assembling 12 cars and a 25-person film crew equipped with nine cameras to properly document this road trip. No less important than assembling the crew was the cast selection. In addition to the BMW Product Training Manager, Sven Wood, two other drivers were selected from BMW’s ranks: Performance Center driving instructors Matt Mullins and Jim Millard.
To round out the quartet, BMW sought a charismatic media personality. National Public Radio host Brian Unger, with his special brand of levity, curiosity and “everyman” perspective, fit the bill. Diesel technology has made huge strides worldwide; in Europe, 65-70 percent of all new BMWs sold are Advanced Diesels.
It was Wood’s idea to film and use the road trip for more than just a BMW training tool. It was “a way to dispel many of the commonly held misconceptions about diesel engines” – the outdated notion that persists here in the States that diesel is noisy, dirty, smelly, underpowered and bad for the environment. In testing the mettle of BMW’s Advanced Diesel vehicles, the crew included two competitors.
Squaring off against BMW Advanced Diesel were the Mercedes-Benz E320 CDI BlueTec diesel sedan and the Lexus RX400h gas/electric hybrid SUV. Among the four drivers, a round robin trade-off of sorts is established with the vehicles: each driver takes a turn with each vehicle. Throughout the trip, both Advanced Diesel vehicles were praised for handling, acceleration, and road feel – hallmarks of every BMW model. Out on the road, there are some surprises.
For one, all the diesels are getting better fuel economy than the Lexus hybrid on the highway, and putting up comparable or better mpg overall. This, despite the fact that the X5 is 900 pounds heavier than the Lexus. “It seems to go against all conventional wisdom,” says a confounded Unger. “The common public perception is that hybrids give you the best mileage.”
The 335d also appears to get better mileage than the Mercedes-Benz E320 CDI BlueTec diesel; although the bimmer is some 200 pounds lighter, it has a much more powerful engine. The more miles that transpire, the more it becomes evident that the new 335d and the X5 xDrive35d have a spectacular story to tell.
As diesels, they reduce greenhouse gas emissions significantly and, better still, increase fuel economy by about 20 percent over their gasoline – fueled counterparts. With a particulate filter and Selective Catalytic Reduction that effectively turn nitrous oxide exhaust into harmless nitrogen and water vapor, these are the cleanest BMWs ever.
At one stop, Wood demonstrates this by running a white glove inside the exhaust pipes of the BMW diesels. No soot or residue is visible on the glove. The glove, however, is stained black when the same test is performed on the Lexus exhaust, further knocking hybrids down off Unger’s pedestal. One concern about the new diesel vehicles is the availability of Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel (ULSD) fuel.
Stations offering ULSD are fairly common during the first leg of the journey. But locating a diesel station gets more challenging as the group enters a remote area of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The BMWs, however, are equipped with a Diesel Finder as part of the optional Navigation system. This invaluable tool allows the driver to access location data on stations offering ULSD throughout the country.
In a matter of seconds, the nearest station is found. Unger, wishing to satisfy a sweet tooth, remarks, “it would be nice if BMW could come up with a Dessert Finder.” Late in the trip, the Lexus needs to be refueled before the other vehicles, which is the deepest cut of all to Unger’s high opinion of hybrids. By trip’s end, he is a true BMW Advanced Diesel enthusiast.
“The environmental lure of these cars… they allow you to be very green without sacrificing the ability to really drive and have fun. I really got to experience what that diesel engine can do. It was pretty darn magical.”
Source: BMW Magazine