The German automaker BMW->ke178 has announced plans to use diesel engines in their upcoming factory tuned lineup sports cars. Recently, the English journal AutoCar conducted an interview with Albert Biermann, the man who made the American Le Mans Series M3 GTR race car and headed up development of the award winning X5 SUV. Albert is currently serving as BMW’s M product manager and in the sit down he stated that: "With cars like the X5 and X6 M, the torque characteristics of diesel engines would make them the ideal choice, were it not for their unsporting character. I don’t think there’s a proven business case for big diesel-engined performance cars yet … but if that changes, we’ll be well placed to take advantage."

That is quite a bold statement considering that most M’s are sold right here in the good old U S of A and we haven’t been big fans of the less refined petroleum product. So Mr. Biermann is also tasked with turning America on to diesel fuel. He also announced that models like BMW Z4 M roadster and coupe models will not be replaced at the end of their production cycle: "The new Z4 is a heavy car … so it would be difficult to tune it effectively. Such an M car would also be hard to position ; using the 4.0-litre V8 would position the car too close to the M3 Convertible, and the 3.2-litre, six-cylinder motor is no longer emissions-compliant."

Regarding a smaller more affordable entry level M based on the 1 Series roadster, the man at M had this to say: “I would love to produce this kind of car. It’s very difficult to make the numbers add up, but I know that I’m not the only person who likes the idea.” So hopefully Albert Biermann will succeed in his quest to turn the world onto diesel powered road going sports cars.

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