Okay, so diesel has a bit of a bad reputation right now. For an enthusiast, that’s not necessarily a bad thing – and when you weigh the advantages it offers it can be quite compelling. For sure there is mileage; a friend of mine daily commutes in an A3 TDi, and despite a relatively heavy foot he returns a pretty reliable 40 m.p.g.. That’s impressive. But surveying the real world results of BMW’s diesel offering seems to suggest that it doesn’t return much better mileage than our N52 gas motor, which is inexplicably capable of 30 m.p.g. on the highway at reasonable speeds. But what BMW’s first U.S. offering of a diesel in the 3-series does offer is some sport. You see, while M3 owners will shout all day about horsepower numbers, the 335d’s weapon is being pushy. The S65 may be a legendary V8 already, but it only is able to twist with 295lb. ft of torque. In contrast, the 335d offers a bit more in the M57 turbo diesel – a total of 428 lb.ft of torque, with horsepower numbers that nearly match the N55 at 282. Equipped with the M-Sport performance options, this is about as close to a diesel M as you can get:
