Ahhhhhh!!!!!!!

[bichmgnt]

No one is used to paying twice as much for anything when someone else is complaining about paying half as much. The fact that you can still say they are used to it proves my point. You are the guy in prison complaining about getting beat up a couple times while sitting next to someone who is tortured every day.

When someone from Europe reads the first part of this thread about our gas prices and comments that their everyday prices for gas are twice as high as ours, and your response is 'Yes, but you guys are used to gas costing that much,' to me that says you think you are hurt more by the relatively low increase in the cost of fuel here than they should be by the everyday price there simply because their prices have been so high for so long. That's so typical of American-centric thinking. You may sit in the cafes and sip espresso with the best of them but a comment like that shows you are an American worthy of the title.

As for the comment about patriotism, that was for junglestylz.

Wadula, I agree with you that if there was a demand for clean buring diesels they would be here. The demand is just not there.

Gotta go. I have a fun filled, gas wasting weekend ahead of me and I have a lot to do before I catch the boat.

Steve

 

[Wadula]

maybe the demand is not there as the pain of drivingis not there. what i mean with that? i have to explain it reverse. diesel enigines in europe became that big and popular as they are way more efficient than gaz engines. They sip less and the diesel is way cheaper compared to gaz prices. As the gaz prices climbed higher and higher, the people discovered the diesel as a good alternate and development began. with enough mileage per year, that engine type pays out, besides the fact that the modern diesel engines are hell of a fun time to drive. extrem punch in low rpm's and high end hp connected to low consumption make it a real nice deal. that is what my fahter in law always shows me. he is living 550 km away from us. i need to pick up gaz twice when i really let her fly and floor it for the race. he fills up once. at the start. that is amazing as his car has 204 horses and 385 ft/lb...that means he beats me in acceleration, top speed and mpg....

 

[rjp325i]

Apparently you did not read the review of the BMW 740d in the current Bimmer magazine. Get a copy and read it, it is very enlightening especially about what sulfur content of the US diesel fuel entails and the refiners reluctance to improve fuel quality. The current 740d is very quick as well. To burn cleanly diesels require low sulfur fuel. Low sulfur fuel is not available in the US. Whether the people in the US want them or not is not the issue. The issue is that they CANNOT be imported due to the EPA rules. In Europe diesel fuel contains 30 parts per million of sulfur. The US diesel fuel 150-500 ppm sulfur. They cannot, no matter whether people will buy them or not bring them into this country due to EPA emissions standards. The new BMW 740d is 121 lbs heavier than the old one but it is significantly quicker. It does 0 to 62 in the 7.0 to 7.4 range depending on magazine test. So performance is there. The November issue also contains an article on the new Dinan S2 M3. It appears to be the same one that Steve Dinan sent to the May 17-18 Sin City Chapter Drivng School at Las Vegas Motor Speedway that had all of the Dinan goodies short of supercharging installed. Good issue, turbo 330ci is also included in the issue.
Don't you remember the gray market debacle of the eighties when numerous modifications had to be made to these cars to "federalize" them. From lights to the window glass these changes still have to be done if you want to import a European model to the US. Emission standards are significantly different as you travel to different countries. The US began installing catalitic converters back in 1975 to meet standards. Europe and particularly Germany and BMW have moved toward cleaner burning vehicles and has used much of the technology learned in building vehicles for the US market. The US is BMWs second largest market and threatens to surpass its domestic market in the next few years.

 

[Wadula]

as you insist on talking about sulphur content, let me ask this. as it was said, the US have the highest standards for emissions on vehicels of all. now, how come that they do not start reducing the sulphur content? that is a very big step towards a further reduction of harmfull emissions.

my last post was only to show how improved diesel engines are because i made the experience that the majority of americans simply don't know about it and as a result of that don't care. for them a diesel is still a truck and not high performance power plants.

at the end of the day, if the interest would be big enough, the US would have to deal with the sulfur content to enable their market to participate at the current developments in automotive fields. there we come back to my statement and the one of bichmgnt, if interest would be big enough...

of course, the fuel cell will wipe out that whole discussion, so why starting it anyway? because it will still take decades till it has replaced fossil fueled cars to a level were sulphur is no topic anymore.

 

[rjp325i]

I got back to the sulfur content because that is the reason current state of the art diesels CANNOT be brought into this country. As for the refiners, they are saying they can't produce it. Their argument is not very convincing though when the same companies are producing the low sulfur fuel in Europe. The EPA is trying to get the US number down to 15 ppm by 2006. The car manufacturers would prefer 5 ppm. The oil companies say that only 50 ppm is doable. However the Austrian government has required that SULFUR FREE be produced in 2004. Those in that country will be taxed at a different rate as a bonus for using it. Where there's a will there's a way as the saying goes. If and when low sulfur fuel is sold in this country, BMW will be able to sell its state of the art diesels here. First, BMW and others will have to overcome the negative associations the public has with the noisy, dirty and foul smelling reputation they have here. That reputation is from trucks, the '70s and '80s self destructing GM diesels and the long lived but sooty Mercedes diesels and the less said the better on the VW diesels of that era which were converted gas engines. As I and you stated earlier the performance is there including cold weather starting. The public must be educated and the oil companies pushed.

 

[Wadula]

I see we agree at that point

Shell has a gaz called Optimax, that has a sulphur content of 0%. It was introduced to the market in 2000. So much for the goal of being sulphur free in 2004...in the mean time shell advanced that optimax to v-power and guarantees 100 octan.

 

[rjp325i]

Is the Shell Optimax gasoline or diesel fuel? The Austrian law pertains to diesel.
We have unleaded 100 octane gas here at the "76" stations but it is $3.95 a gal.

 

[Wadula]

sorry, the optimax is gazoline. for diesel i have no idea about the state of the art and did not understand that your austrian refereal was for diesel fuel.

3.95 $/gal = 1.04 $/liter = 1.14 EUR/liter at current exchange rate. that is at least close to the price the 100 octane stuff is sold for in germany. i believe it is around 1.20 EUR/liter at the moment. Funny, the regular stuff is hell of a difference between the countries but when it comes to higher grades and exotic material, they start ripping you off, too, and rise the price.

 

[rjp325i]

We agree again! I use the 100 octane stuff at a 25% mix during the summer months. The performance chip plus 110 - 115 temps call for it.

 

[Wadula]

honestly, do you feel improvement due to the chip? just curious, because i once had a chip too, and was totally unsatisfied. no improve at all. no loss either, but that was not the goal right?

 

[rjp325i]

Yes I found an improvement in several areas. To begin with I am using the Conforti/Turner Motorsport chip. It remaps almost the entire curve. I have a smoother running engine throughout the entire rpm range. No hesitations just a smooth transition. Other chips remap only full throttle opening. The hp increase is evident also. I can best describe it as the performance difference between when the a/c on on versus when it is off for lack of a better description. As a bonus my fuel mileage increased but now it requires premium 91 in the cooler months and more when the temp climbs in the summer.

 

[Wadula]

your description is a total contradiction to mine. i admit it is 5 years ago i did that and it was 1.8 liter engine. the milaege got worse and the power did not change. funny. well, maybe those chips are in need of enough "flesh" (displacement) for proper working conditions and that during those 5 years technical development brought some significant improvements compared to my old chip.

 

[rjp325i]

The Conforti chip has not changed in several years for the one I have. My chip is in a 1989 325i. The Conforti chip for the 318 yields only 12 hp but better driveability is claimed and is warranteed for life. Were you using a Conforti chip?