When started as a rumor back in December, it has now been confirmed by several sources close to BMW: the European market will see two additional models in the X5 and X6 line-up. BMW X5 xDrive40d and X6 xDrive40d will be available in Europe starting in Spring.
The BMW X5 E70 LCI (facelift) will include the xDrive40d model powered by the same 3.0-liter engine found in the 740d. The engine delivers 300 horsepower and 442 lb-ft of torque (600Nm).
The engine is matted to the more powerful and fuel efficient 8-speed ZF automatic transmission. The idea behind this new naming convention is to showcase a smaller, powerful, fuel efficient and low CO2 emission engine that would give the large 4-5 liter diesel engines from Mercedes and Audi, a run for their money.
One of the reasons why the new models diesel models are not yet available in the U.S. market, revolves around the U.S. emission standards compliance in all 50 states. If the strong diesel sales continue in the U.S., especially in the X models market (1 out of 3 X5s in December were diesels), then we see BMW taking a closer look at introducing the bigger, more powerful engine, but let’s keep that at the speculations level.
The BMW X5 xDrive40d and X6 40d will make their debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March.
