Diesel Special Operations

Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz all offer European government and public safety organizations (Behörden und Organisationen mit Sicherheitsaufgaben or BOS) specially-equipped cars for use by fire, police, and emergency medical services personnel.
When ordering their vehicles, most …

Winter Tire Test and Tips

We compare two categories of tires for winter driving along with tips for driving on ice and snow

Driving a car with high-performance summer tires is great – until the temperatures start to dip. 
Summer tires …

Diesel Economics 101

Diesel (as well as gasoline-electric hybrid) automobiles are typically sold at a higher price point than their petrol-only counterparts with the difference typically being several thousand dollars.
For example, the BMW 335d’s list price is $43,950 …

BMW X5 xDrive35d Review

BMW carefully selected the 3er Series sedan and X5 SAV (Sport Activity Vehicle, BMW parlance for SUV) as the flagships of the BMW Advanced Diesel line. It doesn’t take long to understand the company’s …

The First Diesels

Many people don’t realize that diesel-powered passenger cars date back to the mid-1930s.
Although the Mercedes-Benz 260D and the Hanomag Rekord Diesel Typ D 19A were both introduced at the 1936 Berlin Automobile Show, the Mercedes …

First Drive: Mercedes-Benz ML320 BlueTec

Mercedes, which pioneered diesel-powered passenger cars back in the 30s, has continued to demonstrate its commitment to diesel in the United States with a variety of models over the years including the legendary 240D and, …

Mercedes introduces 260D, new for 1936

In 1936, after years of engine development work, Mercedes-Benz unveiled the 260D, the world’s first diesel passenger car, at the Berlin Automobile Show.
The Hanomag Rekord Diesel Typ D 19A was also introduced at the show …