Diesel isn’t dead yet.
Diesel engines are now gone. Many automakers have reduced or discontinued their diesel engine lineups since the Volkswagen Dieselgate scandal revealed that emissions testing was being manipulated. There is still a strong demand for diesel-powered cars in Europe, and they remain the most efficient vehicles on the road. How efficient is a modern diesel?
Joe Achilles is a passionate BMW fan and a popular YouTuber. He wanted to answer the question. To find out how many miles the BMW 7 Series 730d can travel on one tank of diesel fuel, he took an BMW 7 Series 730d model from the previous generation. He wanted to travel from London, Spain, to Madrid using the Eurotunnel and Northern France.
Let’s start with the car. It is a 7 Series 730d, also known as the G11, which means that it has a 3.0-liter straight-6 diesel engine underneath. The B57 is the name of this mill. It produces 261 horsepower (195 Kilowatts) as well as 457 pound-feet (462 Newton-meters). The mill is coupled to a ZF eight-speed torque converter automatic, which sends power to the rear wheels. All four corners of the luxury sedan are covered by Michelin E Primacy tires.
Previous efficiency experiments have shown that this engine can travel at least 900 miles per tank. To achieve this goal, however, the driver must travel over 1,000 miles with a single diesel tank. This is the most economical and conservative driving mode for the 7 Series.
The driver and his co-driver took 22.5 hours to complete the journey, covering 1,026.5 miles. The diesel sedan had 96 miles left on its tank, so it could have a range of over 1,100 miles. How much fuel was used? What was the journey like? Check out the video and comment below.