Kingston, Ontario - The automotive world is shrinking by the second. After Volkswagen, BMW is now selling diesel-powered cars in North America. A 3-Series sedan called 335d and a new variant of the X5 known as the xDrive35d are now part of the brand's portfolio.

The 2009 BMW 335d finds itself among the most environmentally-friendly cars in Canada!

Wolfsburg's TDI monopoly will soon be no more. A new market segment is fast emerging and the 2009 BMW 335d, the first premium compact sedan to run on diesel in Canada, represents the tip of this iceberg.

Cheaper than a 335i!
Executives at BMW Canada admit that the introduction of these two models will allow them to gauge consumer interest for this "new" genre.

Is it the reason why the 335d ($49,700) turns out to be cheaper than a similarly-equipped, gasoline-powered 335i? The difference is actually $800 in favor of the former, which is only available with an automatic transmission.

The impressive torque generated by its 6-cylinder engine could not be handled by a manual gearbox. In fact, the automaker had to rely on a new autobox that was originally designed... for a V8!

Cutting-edge technology
The market introduction of a new clean diesel fuel (with low sulfur levels) along with new engines that produce less emissions is at the source of this new trend.

We're a far cry away from the BMW 524td that was sold here in the 1980s. The mere mention of its name conjures up bad memories of harsh-sounding diesel powerplants, not to mention their bluish smoke coming out the back under acceleration. It's amazing that these engines used to be all the rage at some point!

This ultra-torquey monster (425 pounds-feet at 1,750 rpm!) is remarkably flexible thanks to a pair of sequential turbochargers.