Hi, I'm thinking of getting a diesel 525 touring for pulling my race car, commuting to the day job, has a little luxury, and occasionally sleeping in (I'm not homeless, I mean as a big tent in case i go off to europe on a jolly) I've got a max budget of £1500

I had a jeep Cherokee for this, it was great but too bloody thirsty! (for those american readers, diesel in the uk is about $8.50 per US gallon.)

I was wondering what MPG i can realistically expect. Please say if you're talking US gallon or Imperial gallon.

other ideas on the table are merc W124 30D, Volvo 850, possibly mk3 mondeo if I can find one cheap enough. Any advice on these? (I know you'll all say Get the BMW, but aside from that.)

Can't say i know the specs, sorry. but what's your race car?

Mondeo front wheel drive for towing, There's a good choice to miss that one out! Get the TDS if you go for the BMW.

What about Diesel truck?
I have a Dodge RAm 3500 4 door dually. with the Cummings turbo 6 cyl. If I keep it under 75 mph I get 18 MPG not towing, 15 to 16 Towing a e30 on a 2 axel trailer. And 13 MPG towing a 2002 and a E30 on a 32 foot 2 car trailer.
I think any Diesel that is not underpowered the MPG would only drop by 2 to 3 MPG when towning a single car.
I would think that toung weight would be a problem if you are towing with a Wagon. Unless your using a tow dolly vs a trailer.

These are US gallons.

B

As US-based sites like this forum go, there'sn't much info on diesel BMW's, because the US never got any, excepting grey-market cars. The little bit I've gathered is that the 525tds is a major improvement over the 524td, including in fuel economy. Here's (http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=750039) a claim of 55mpg (I'm guessing imperial) from the 525tds, as well as some info about running it on veggie oil or biodiesel.

i think parker's used to have mileage specs for the diesel's, if i remember correctly they got about 40 MPG highway, 30 city (UK gallons).

the 3.0 diesel in the e39 is sweet, i've heard the 2.5 isn't bad.

A guy I car share with has a 1995 525tds, averages about 35mpg or a bit better. It only has 47K miles on the clock as well :eek:

The turbo is noisey above 3K rpm and I don't think they came well equipped as standard.

no:
sunroof
maplights
rear air vents
rear ciggarette lighter
OBC- analogue clock FTW

Its basically an E34 shell but lacks any of the good luxuries. The engine pulls ok I guess but nothing compared to my fully spec'd 535 though :devillook

A guy I car share with has a 1995 525tds, averages about 35mpg or a bit better. It only has 47K miles on the clock as well :eek:

The turbo is noisey above 3K rpm and I don't think they came well equipped as standard.

no:
sunroof
maplights
rear air vents
rear ciggarette lighter
OBC- analogue clock FTW

Its basically an E34 shell but lacks any of the good luxuries. The engine pulls ok I guess but nothing compared to my fully spec'd 535 though :devillook



I have a 1995 525Tds with 85K miles on it. Just passed the NCT (Irish National Car Test) last week and the tester commented on how good the car was and said only about 30% of cars of that age pass the test.
Anyhow, I'm getting approx 550-600miles to a tank of diesel, mixed driving. I don't find it noisy, in fact the 6 cylinder has a very nice, distinctive sound.
I haven't worked out the mpg, but diesel is about €1.14 where I am.

Oh and mine came with leather, aircon, rear vents, maplights, basic obc etc etc...

I have a 1995 525Tds with 85K miles on it. Just passed the NCT (Irish National Car Test) last week and the tester commented on how good the car was and said only about 30% of cars of that age pass the test.
Anyhow, I'm getting approx 550-600miles to a tank of diesel, mixed driving. I don't find it noisy, in fact the 6 cylinder has a very nice, distinctive sound.
I haven't worked out the mpg, but diesel is about €1.14 where I am.

Oh and mine came with leather, aircon, rear vents, maplights, basic obc etc etc...


Oo 550-600 miles to a tank? my 525td only gets 350?!?!?!? so i think i have a problem, can you tell me approximately how much fuel your tank takes pelase? mine seems to be full from empty on 45 litres which im sure isnt right....
is hter ean auxilary tank on these or anyhting?

Oo 550-600 miles to a tank? my 525td only gets 350?!?!?!? so i think i have a problem, can you tell me approximately how much fuel your tank takes pelase? mine seems to be full from empty on 45 litres which im sure isnt right....
is hter ean auxilary tank on these or anyhting?

Not sure exactly what it is, but I think my tank is about 70-80 litres.
I thought all E34s had huge tanks?

that would make sense, i fill up with 45-50 litres, when my fuel gauge says half full, and it ownt take nay more than the 45 or so litres...
what the hell??? lol is there multiple tanks or anything?

that would make sense, i fill up with 45-50 litres, when my fuel gauge says half full, and it ownt take nay more than the 45 or so litres...
what the hell??? lol is there multiple tanks or anything?

:confused An 80 liter tank indeed shouldn't take more than ~40 liters if it's about half full to begin with.

erm
at half on the fuel gauge my td is out of fuel :P it stops :P
but
it does only take 45 litres to refill.. hence i feel all the fuel isnt getting used out of hte tank somehow...
any ideas? hope that explains it better :)

erm
at half on the fuel gauge my td is out of fuel :P it stops :P
but
it does only take 45 litres to refill.. hence i feel all the fuel isnt getting used out of hte tank somehow...
any ideas? hope that explains it better :)

That's a strange one alright :eyecrazy

Oh.

Uh...that's weird. Sounds like a problem with the fuel pump, then. On the petrol cars, they're accessible via an egg-shaped bolted-on panel under the trunk carpeting. Not sure about diesels, but that's where I'd look first.

Yer ive found some diagrams off the assembly on the petrol cars
the pump sits at the bottom of a pole which hangs down from the opening in the fuel tank top
now im not sure how the diesel pumping system works, i believe it just uses the pump on the side of the engine? and not an in tank item? therefore i guess i just need to run the car low as possible on fuel and fish the assembly out and see whats what.