Dashing diesels

By ALASTAIR SLOANE

At the launch in Portugal in 1997 of the 156 Alfa Romeo range, a company man asked a handful of New Zealand motoring writers what they thought was the best car. Was it the 2.5-litre V6, the 2.0-litre twin-spark, or the common-rail 2.4-litre JTD diesel? Answer: the diesel.

He replied: "We would never sell an Alfa diesel in New Zealand."

About six months later, at the launch in Spain of the BMW 3-Series, a Munich executive asked a similar question: Was it the 328i, 318i or the 320d?

Answer? The 320 diesel.

The BMW man replied. "I don't think a BMW diesel would sell in New Zealand."

Months later, a Mercedes-Benz executive asked the same of the E-Class range. "The petrol 320 V6 or the 320CDi diesel?"

Answer: the diesel. It's a train. The best E-Class, perhaps even the best Merc.

He acknowledged the verdict and said: "There isn't much of a diesel market in New Zealand but we expect it to sell quite well." And it has. The $106,000 car is superb, its 490Nm of pulling power from its quiet, common-rail, six-cylinder engine making it the laziest, most user-friendly tourer on the road. Hills? What hills?

Mercedes-Benz has been selling diesel passenger cars here for some years. Indeed, diesel is seen as a Mercedes-Benz strength, hand-in-hand with the three-pointed star, because it built the first oil-burning passenger car in 1936.

But BMW and Alfa Romeo are newcomers to diesel engines. BMW built its first in 1983 and Alfa Romeo's JTD in 1997 was the common-rail pioneer, a Fiat-Bosch development.

The Alfa Romeo importers ignored the JTD engine for New Zealand, believing that diesel doesn't suit the car's badge outside Europe. BMW thought that too, until last Wednesday, when it launched a lineup of engines that included two oil-burners - the four-cylinder 320d and common-rail six-cylinder 330d, described in Britain as the best car of 2000. The 330 also powers the 530d.

BMW believes both models will help change the perception New Zealanders have of diesel engines, that they always cost more and are smelly and smoky.

Simply, diesel engines are the most efficient internal combustion power-plants. The bigger they are the better they are. They don't emit as many pollutants as petrol engines, although they do leave an exhaust soot called particulates. Modern diesels filter much of this out; older, poorly maintained diesels do not.

Therein lies the problem diesel players like Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Citroen and Peugeot have to overcome.

They know they can put 100 people in a room, convince them of the benefits of diesel, that it is cleaner, cheaper, offers more mid-range oomph and better fuel economy - only to have their work destroyed as soon as their audience files outside and sees a grubby diesel import go by, belching smoke.

Clean-air legislation will help get such models off the road. So will a ban on used imports older than seven years. But the diesel segment still has much to do, despite the fuel gaining in popularity daily in Europe.

In BMW's case, sales of diesel cars worldwide this year have gone past 350,000, with the 3-Series figures increasing by 16 per cent.

BMW marketing manager Mark Gilbert says New Zealand could well start to follow the trend to diesel. "The time is right and the mood is opportune in terms of the increasing cost of petrol.

"We have always said that when the mass market develops a diesel we would put a top to it.

"But we had to make sure that a BMW diesel was everything buyers expected of a BMW and that it lived up to the ultimate driving machine."

Although French carmakers Peugeot and Citroen sell the most diesel cars in New Zealand, companies like Volkswagen - which also sells diesels in huge numbers in Europe - have been waiting for Mercedes-Benz and BMW to popularise the fuel here.

A VW board member, on a visit here two years ago, said the New Zealand terrain suited the characteristics of diesel, but only when the luxury marques became committed to it would its use become more widespread.

That is starting to happen. The BMW 320d and 330d join the 320CDi Mercedes-Benz in the luxury diesel sector. Mercedes-Benz will add two more diesels soon, a V8 in the S-Class and a V6 in the C-Class. Jaguar and Audi will also have diesel options.

But for the moment all eyes are on the BMWs.

"If there is one vehicle capable of changing the current thinking about the performance level of diesel it is the 330d," Gilbert says.

"The new saloon provides a level of performance usually associated with powerful petrol cars.

"It is unrivalled in terms of performance, sportiness and fuel consumption and has already been hailed as the world's first sporting diesel."

The highlight of the 330d is its superb balance and mid-range torque, a constant delivery of 390Nm of pulling power from 1750 rpm and 3200 rpm, quietly delivered through a clutchless manual transmission. The 320d develops 280Nm at 1750 rpm through a five-speed manual.

The 330d costs $96,000, the 320d between $59,000 and $68,000, and the 530d $108,000.

The other significant BMW engine change is the introduction of the six-cylinder 3.0-litre petrol engine, the 330i. It sets new standards for silky power delivery and will be an option in the 3-Series sedan, estate and coupe and a fixed fitting in the convertible. The convertible also offers for the first time a soft-top or lightweight hard-top roof.