[mcs37]

I'm frustrated that BMW refuses to bring the MINI Cooper D to the United States, especially when there is such a large lineup of diesel cars targeted for the USA in 2008 (finally). BMW is even one of the companies that will be releasing its diesels to the States in 2008 and 2009. But they just won't wisen up to the fact that a MINI Cooper D in the USA would sell so well they couldn't keep up with the demand. (I own a Jetta TDI with 60K miles and I can sell it for probably still $15K since diesels are so hard to get here).

The MINI Cooper D gets a combined efficiency of just under 60 mpg, and the prospect of that fuel efficiency combined with the idea of running it on biodiesel is very appealing. So I've created a petition to present to BMW to show that we want to bring a MINI Cooper D to the United States. If we can get enough signatures, then they would understand how much we want it.

BMW: Bring the MINI Cooper D to the United States! Petition : [ powered by iPetitions.com ]

Feel free to sign it and spread the word!

[CooperS4us]

You have a very valid request there, but keep in mind that we don't yet have the low sulfur diesel fuel required to run a Cooper D here in the states. My understanding is that this car will only be 48-49 state certified for emissions.

[mcs37]

Quote: Originally Posted by CooperS4us (original)

You have a very valid request there, but keep in mind that we don't yet have the low sulfur diesel fuel required to run a Cooper D here in the states. My understanding is that this car will only be 48-49 state certified for emissions.

What do you mean?

Ultra-low sulfur diesel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

As of 2006 we do have ULSD. Plus if you run biodiesel you will have even less to worry about. I see no reason why we can't have more diesels now.

[CooperS4us]

Well, if that is the case, bring it on!

[mcs37]

Right on! Bring it. Please sign the petition and send it to any other MINI lovers out there who want 60mpg.

[JOHN BAGLEY]

I bet there isnt maney cars in the states that can get up to 60mpg ! could you pay $9 agallen ?

[AprilWhine]

I would buy one, loved my VW TDI.

[Paul]

Don't know how old or new this is (been working on the site so much not been paying enough attention to the news!), but this might be interesting:

MINI Cooper Diesel for Canada?

[AprilWhine]

Thanks Paul, if BMW releases the Cooper D to Canada, it would probably come to the US too.

[ae804]

I've asked Mini USA a couple times and they have no intention of bringing the CooperD to the US. Obviously that can change and they could just be telling me that so I buy what's offered now. I saw the "Cooper D to Canada" articles a couple days ago and was starting to try to figure out how much effort it would be to import one to the US.

Anyway, If we make the move to bio diesel, These will come to the US... but that won't be for another 5-10 years.

[DaFlake]

This is very interesting and many of the BMW dealers (owned by BMW) here in Germany have said that the major problem would be sales. It seems that Americans don't want diesels because they think that they are too slow and have no power. Well, after driving several BMW 3 and 5 Series TDI here on the Autobahn I can tell you we have a very bad misconception on that part.

The other reason is the grade of diesel available. Even though it is posted on Wikipedia (a great source for information ) the problem is that there are still a lot of high sulfur fuels out there that could damage the engine and BMW is waiting for that to change before moving them into country hence the projected time line.

This is information that I got from BWM Neiderhausen in Mannheim Germany. They are a fully BMW owned dealer. Why? Because I was curious.

[dukesantos]

The fuel issue is gone, the new Ultra Low Sulfer Diesel (ULSD) fuel is widely available. There is certainly enough demand for the relatively low number of cars that MINI would send to North America, especially if they did it soon. I hope they do.