BMW opts out of adding diesel-engined X3 M Performance

BMW Australia has said no to a newly revealed diesel-engined version of the X3 M Performance. The German luxury brand is expected to soon start nosing the 265kW/500Nm turbocharged 3.0-litre petrol-engined X3 M40i – the first X3 fettled under the M Performance sub-brand – into its showrooms.

But overnight, BMW revealed that it will also produce a diesel-engined equivalent, the M40d, featuring a 240kW/680Nm in-line 3.0-litre turbodiesel six-cylinder. That stump-pulling torque figure – peak Newton metres arrive from 1750rpm helped by multistage turbocharging – hints at twin-turbo V8-paling performance, and at 4.9 seconds the M-badged diesel version of the X3 will be only 0.1sec slower from 0-100km/h than the petrol model.

The big benefit, though, is fuel use: an official average of 8.9L/100km for the Australian-delivery, petrol powered version of the X3, versus 6.5L/100km for the diesel on the slightly different, and sometimes lower European fuel use cycle.

BMW has also announced an xDrive30d variant of the X4 coupe-styled SUV, featuring a 195kW/620Nm version of the 3.0-litre in-line six-cylinder diesel powerplant. It will also lift its SUV-styled skirts when needed, completing the 0-100km/h run in 5.8 seconds – the same number as the X3 xLine30d pulls.

A BMW Australia spokesman said the luxury car brand was still weighing up which versions of the new G02-generation X4 would launch here, although the line-up would likely follow that of the X3, which includes the 2.0-litre four-cylinder variants – the 135kW/290Nm 2.0-litre turbo petrol sDrive20i, the 185kW/350Nm xDrive 30i, and 140kW/400Nm turbo diesel xDrive20d – and a 195kW/620Nm version using the same engine as being added to the X4 range. The X4 is due for launch here around the end of Q3, 2018.