2011 BMW 5 Series Diesel First Drive

If and when BMW brings a diesel motor to the U.S. under the wavy hood of the new 5 Series, it might not be the one we sampled in our recent drive of the 2011 BMW 530d. In Europe, BMW offers three turbocharged diesel engines for the 5 Series. You have your choice of a frugal turbocharged inline-4 in the 520d, a base-level turbocharged inline-6 in the 525d and the higher-power version of the same turbocharged inline-6 in the 530d. To further complicate matters for the diesel-averse, the twin-turbo inline-6 diesel that BMW currently sells in the U.S. for the 335d and X5 diesel isn't like any of these Euro diesels, as it's meant to be the most powerful six-cylinder oil-burner currently on the market.