Adding some diesel excitement to its M range on the X3 SUV, BMW has introduced the new X3 M40d in Europe that will get a turbo diesel six-cylinder engine under the hood. The new BMW X3 M40d joins its sibling X4 M40d in the line-up and essentially shares the same engine and power output. The performance diesel SUV has been announced for Europe with bookings for the car set to commence from July this year. The BMW X3 M40d uses a 3.0-litre B57 diesel tuned to produce 322 bhp and a whopping 770 of peak torque, all of which will be available from as low as 1750 rpm. The SUV can hit 0-100 kmph in 4.9 seconds, which is only tenth of a second slower than its petrol derivative.
The BMW X3 is in its third generation and has been completely revamped visually. The X3 M40d though is identical to the X3 M40i with the turbo petrol engine and 34 extra horses under the hood, while torque is limited to 500 Nm. The diesel SUV gets upgraded to the performance treatment with the M aerodynamics package with Cerium-Grey finished design elements, 20-inch alloy wheels and flap-controlled M sport exhaust system with black chrome tailpipe embellishers.
(The third generation BMW X3 is currently on sale in India)
In addition, the BMW X3 M40d gets an M Sport suspension with M Performance-specific tuning, M Sport brakes and variable sport steering. On the inside, expect to see sports seats, M-themed steering wheel with touches of carbon fibre, while retaining the practicality of the second row. The BMW X3 M40d gets an 8-speed automatic transmission with all-wheel drive or xDrive available as standard. The performance SUV has an electronically limited top speed of 250 kmph.
It'snot clear if the BMW X3 M40d will be making it to other markets across the world including India. The performance diesel SUV though sure seems like a lot of potential in our country and can make for an ideal performance daily driver too. Until then, we get the standard BMW X3 in India with the 3.0-litre turbocharged in-line six-cylinder engine that produces 255 bhp at 4000 rpm and 400 Nm of peak torque between 1750-2500 rpm, while paired to an 8-speed autobox.
