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"It's a lazy man's car la! No need to do anything, everything is auto, the lights, the wipers..." exclaimed my wife over the phone after collecting a BMW from their HQ in Cyberjaya as I couldn't go myself. Well, thinking to myself, it must be the first time she's driving a continental executive car.

My instructions to her was simple: drive it straight home in one piece. But with a tank full or petrol diesel, who knows where she might actually go...

Anyway back to car at hand (well my wife's hand at least for the time being), BMW has kindly allowed me to test both their 320d and 520d models featuring their latest EfficientDynamics offerings which is an initiative to produce fuel-saving vehicles through clean production processes. It was first introduced locally in 2007.

First up, the 320d Sports. Interestingly both cars uses the same new N47 engine 2.0L turbo powered diesel engine which outputs 177hp and an incredible 350Nm of torque, which will come in handy during overtakings especially of those irritating road hoggers. Matted to a 6 speed auto transmission unit, the only difference being the final drive ratio which is 3.154 on the 320d and 3.231 on the 520d.



Inclusion of the word "Sports" in the name means that the BMW's revered M division has given the car a bit of their magic. Hence you get M-Sport suspension, bodykit, seats, aluminium trim, steering wheel and alloys all adorned with the famous M badge. I don't get one thing though, if the goal is to promote fuel economy and aerodynamics, why bother with body kits and fatter tyres? Won't that somehow increase fuel consumption?

After much pondering, I figured BMW probably just needed to do this to attract more traditional buyers of the 320i who may see the the 320d as a sporty alternative to its petrol siblings. But I wonder why a standard 320i is offered but not a standard 320d...

With the 3 series finally in my own hands, I noticed something odd immediately after climbing into it. The car's interior is small! I think its more comparable to a City/Vios than that of a Civic/Altis which i always thought it was. But in the 3 series' defense, the Japanese have always been sort of increasing their cars' overall size over the years, while the 3 series has stuck to its strict diet and has more or less maintained the same dimensions of its predecessors.

And because of that, placing your butt inside a 3 series is as snug as fitting a nut to a bolt especially if your a bit overweight like me. The front seats are semi-bucket in this M-sports version and they provide excellent lumbar support and side support which should keep you snugly fitted during fast and sharp corners.

Starting up a BMW these days is more like an event, first you need to plug the key in to a slot on the dash, then hit the brakes and finally press the Start Engine button. Oh and be sure the shifter is in P or you'll be left wondering what happened to your perfect engine starting sequence. Once the engine growls to life you can hardy hear it from inside, all you get is sort of a distance rumble. On the contrary, its not so great if you happen to be standing on the outside and you'll be forgiven for thinking a bus or a lorry just started up.


Taking it out for a spin and you will soon forget everything the naysayers say about diesel engines, the car performs just as good as a petrol version or if I may say so, even better in some cases. Anyone driven a manual petrol powered car coming to a hill or slope will know what I'm on about. With its massive amount of torque, this noisy machine will just climb right to the top without ever breaking a sweat on almost any gear your in.

And the N47 delivers this remarkably at engine speeds below 2000 RPM. Gently depress the throttle to about 1750 RPM, and a small surge propels the car forwards in a elegant and graceful manner, befitting a luxury cruiser. Stamp on it though, nothing happens. Till about 1 sec later, when you'll feel a boot up your ass, your body pushed back to the seat and the needle racing pass the middle mark of the speedometer on the way to 230KM/H.

That ladies and gentleman is the effect of the N47's turbo charger. The delay is very obvious and unlike its big brother the 3.0L twin turbo diesel which has 1 small turbo for low revs and a bigger one for high rev to eliminate any delays, it has to make do with just one turbo, hence the turbo lag. So while other petrol powered cars may get a head start on you at the traffic stops, you'll be reeling them in at no time at all.

Surprisingly with all the full throttle starts and heavy footed driving, I failed in getting the on-board average fuel consumption meter to read anything above 10L/100KM. BMW states a combined fuel consumption of 6L/100KM which is quite believable, especially on long journeys on highways. And with its 61L fuel tank, it has an impressive range of 800KM though supposedly not as impressive as its big brother which we will see later.

The steering wheel is chunky and the right size (for me that is) but is a bit on the heavy side. Good for driving at high speeds but not so good at low speeds especially during parking which makes you think you're driving a larger car than you actually are. Not sure if this is the case for all all M "touched" cars.

Utilizing BMW's trademark run-flat tyres, the ride is - there's no other word for it - bone jarring on most Malaysian patchwork roads, safe for some smooth kampung/back roads and on the highway. The M Sport suspension doesn't really help the case either. All these however, translate the 320d Sports into super sharp handling machine and I caught myself a few times diverting from the normal route looking for more corners or bends to attack.

Maybe I'm just getting old, as I tend to prefer more comfortable ride and jolt-less acceleration these days. Which is exactly where the 520d fits in.

If the 3 series is small then the 5 series is big. With its big comfy almost lazy-boy type seats, thick center console and wooden themed dash, the 5 series is not only big on space, its also boost a decent amount of luxury. And you don't even need to bother with the key, as long as you have it in your pocket, the doors unlock automatically when you pull the handle and it even starts with the pres of the Start button without ever needing the key in its slot.

With a claimed range of 1000KM per refill, it's quite a bold statement and hardly believable, that's until I almost reached it myself. I manage to clock an impressive 922KM just before the second warning came up, indicating I have just 50KM to go and the fuel indicator already at 0. I reckon the 1000KM target could easily be reached, if one were to drive following the speed limit and also due to the fact that my wife drove it from KL to Penang (~380 KM) using just about one quarter of the 70L tank.

The 520d uses the same engine as the 320d but in the 5 series, its seems like a different beast altogether. Gone are the delay and almost brutalish acceleration and in place were silky smooth propulsion. Foot down and the car instantly response. The reason behind this, is due to a newer transmission and its more luxury status (compared to the 3 series) which makes more sense for it produce a more linear, smooth power output instead of a surge that you get in a 3 series.

The ride in the 5 series is also much much better than its 3 series sibling, even though run-flat tyres are also used. This is because it still has its normal suspension despite being called the Sports Edition. What you get for a Sports Edition 520d are just the M-Sport steering wheel and the body kit.

Unlike the 3 series however, this entry level 520d does come with BMW's famous i-drive which is the car's entertainment, navigation and computer system all-in-one. It took some time getting used to, but is quite handy once you get the hang of it. The only complain I have, and its only a minor one, is that the GPS map doesn't seem to be all that updated even though it was dated January 2010.

Being the only diesel powered vehicles currently available locally from BMW (apart from the 730d), the 320d and 520d are certainly worth a look if you're in the market for a 3 or 5 series. The 320d is only RM7000 more than its 320i counterpart but beats it hands down in power and torque wise, while the 520d is the cheapest 5 series available for sale today.

In my opinion these cars are currently one of the best diesel powered cars available locally but as they are BMWs, it won't be cheap. The 320d Sports goes for RM255,800.00 while its bigger sibling goes for RM379,800.00. Not exactly cheap by a long shot but think of it this way, you won't be affected by the upcoming reduction in petrol subsidies if you drive one of these. Oh not forgetting it comes with the bulletproof BMW warranty and free maintenance for 3 years or 60,000km whichever comes first.