[jpoch]

Are there any companies who buy the mini's in Europe and import them to the USA? I'm not sure if it's even possible but curious. JP

[cajun]

well That sounds like a good Idea to import a diesel to the states. But the only problem is you would have to import the diesel fuel also to run the car. See the diesel if diferent in the USA then it is over seas, and wont run. Sorry.

[jpoch]

It's funny you note the differences of diesel between the States and EU(I had no idea). My purpose is to get a car that I can run biodiesel. Biodiesel is farm grown from soy and other products and can run on typical (States) diesel engines. It just costs a little bit more. With the MINI's great mileage and the reduced emissions of biodiesel, it was an option I was hoping to persue. I'll try to get some more info from the technical section. Thank you for the advice. JP

[goin440]

Also, come 2008 (maybe earlier), the US is putting strict restrictions on diesel emisions. Rumor is that most manufacturers are going to have to redesign engines to meet the restrictions. I don't know how true that is---heard from a friend who heard from a guy who heard from.... But I know there is going to be some changes to the diesel emision regulations.

[Harpo]

I'm not quoting directly from my One D handbook, but I seem to recall a caution not to use bio diesel.

[AMT]

Quote: Originally Posted by jpoch

Are there any companies who buy the mini's in Europe and import them to the USA? I'm not sure if it's even possible but curious. JP

I'm sure you'll find a company to do it for you-- for the right price. Indeed, there are plenty who import American cars to the UK.

And, if you look on the bright side, by importing a ONE D you would be the owner of a very exclusive car-- possibly the only ONE D in the whole of the usa. So who cares if you couldn't drive it

[red03miniS]

also dont the mini D have toyota motors?

[JBA]

Its the low diesel quality in USA that is the problem: high sulphur, low cetane, but this will change in a couple of years. VW will then import the more advanced diesels. At the moment they manage to sell all they can import of their TDI Golf. However, its their older design (non-PD) with 90hp only. Try Freds for info on this: http://forums.tdiclub.com/ubbthreads.php?Cat=&C=2. Can't comment on bio-diesel but it seems a good move!

[NEMINI]

tightening up of diesel emissions is long overdue

[Mark Finnern]

Hi Everyone,

I am driving a new Beetle diesel and am very happy with the gas millage. Now I read that the Mini Diesel gets 58 Miles per Gallon. That is more then the hybrids do.

I want my next car to be a Mini Diesel. I read on this boards, that there are other people like me that want own a Mini D here in the US too.

Forums are great, but it is tough to find out how big the demand really is. I have created a request at PublicMind, a website that does demand aggregation.
http://www.publicmind.com/enduser/group.jsp?node=336

Please sign that request. If enough people sign, it will be attractive for an importer to fill a container and go through the hoops of making it available for us here. Or if the rush is really good, we may convince BMW to get it over here earlier.

Side question, can anyone explain to me why VW does not sell their diesel cars in California anymore?

Thanks in advance, Mark.

[rcase13]

I might be able to shed some light on why. Check the EPA website. The VW diesel ranks very poorly especially last years model. This year they cleaned up the emissions but lost some fuel efficiency. It is probably just too dirty for the strict California market.

[stryder]

Don't forget British Gallons aka Imperial Gallons are bigger then US gallons.

According to our friend the google calculator 58 miles per imperial gallons is 48.3 mpg in US gallons. Still good, but not quite as amazing compared to a hybrid, more in line with the VW diesels, except that its slower and smaller then a VW diesel, so it should get better milage then them.

[AprilWhine]

I love my Beetle TDI, but would replace it with a One D in a second!

[Runner]

I'd also like to see a diesel available in the US. A hybrid would be another option but I'm not sure where you could put the batteries without an unacceptable loss of space.

[milliethemini]

Ummm,

I'm surprised that no one has brought this up yet, but if the MINI One D is imported by an independent importer, wouldn't that MINI not be supported by and have no warranty from MINIUSA at all??

If the independent importer is providing support and warranty, that would put a hefty premium on the MINI One D, unless the importer could sell lots of them stateside. And that's not a given, as diesel passenger vehicles sell much better in some states than others, and you would need nationwide sales to generate sufficient numbers to make it worthwhile for the importer.

If that critical mass is reached, you would then see MINIUSA bring them in. That's the kind of scenario that happened with the Mercedes-Benz G500 in North America.

One other problem too, is that you would have to bring the European version of the MINI One D in, as they are left hand drive, but the specifications may not suit North American standards. The importer will have to do that, and that will cost even more money. Start adding up the numbers, and you may find that an imported MINI One D might cost more than a JCW MCS!!!

[stryder]

Quote: Originally Posted by milliethemini

One other problem too, is that you would have to bring the European version of the MINI One D in, as they are left hand drive, but the specifications may not suit North American standards. The importer will have to do that, and that will cost even more money. Start adding up the numbers, and you may find that an imported MINI One D might cost more than a JCW MCS!!!

The only difference between Euro spec cars is they don't have side markers in the wheel arches, and they have a speedo that only displays KM. Neither is excessively expensive to change. If you're importing to Canada you don't even need to change the speedo.

Of course the fact that they can't run on north american diesel is very difficult to change, which is why people mentioned it early on, it pretty well negates the possibility unless MINI decides to support this.

The G500 worked because it wasn't a diesel and people wanted it for the 'I drive an overpriced box on wheels that is made for serious offroading and I have too much money and want to drive it on the streets in LA'

I don't think a One D has the same appeal, but your point/comparison is otherwise valid.

[Runner]

I was actually changing from the original post and expressing hope that MiniUSA would make the One D or a Future One H (Hybrid) available. In reading about the TDI it looks like the main difference between the Euro 110 hp and the US 90 hp is that the former is optimized for performance and the latter for emissions.

Why is there a difference between the Euro and US diesel formulations?

[JBA]

Sulphur/sulfur. Regulated in Europe because of the proportion of diesel cars, and will be lower than 50ppm shortly. In USA, way down the road at present, but give it time. Sulphur not good for catalysts, nor for particulates. Cetane also lower in US therefore ignition is affected adversely.

[stryder]

Makes much more sense now that you explained the new topic. Though BMW isn't too big on hybrids, they've been pushing hydrogen (including a hydrogren MINI), but you never know.

It should be lower then 15ppm I think, according to the US dept of Energy:

Quote:

The current legal limit for sulfur in diesel fuel is 500 parts per million (ppm), while the new rulemaking imposes a limit of 15 ppm. However, pipeline owners are expected to require refiners to reduce sulfur content below 10 ppm to provide a tolerance for testing and to offset contamination from other sulfur-bearing products shipped by pipeline. The new fuel must be available at retail stations by September 1, 2006, although a phase-in option allows up to one-fifth of all diesel fuel produced to meet only the 500 ppm limit through early 2010. Because the sharply lower sulfur limit will entail new capital investment and higher operating costs for refiners, there are concerns that the transition to ultra-low-sulfur diesel (ULSD) fuel might constrain supplies of diesel fuel and raise prices. EIA's study looks at the supply issues in the short term during the transition to ULSD and at the mid-term issues, especially prices, through 2015.

[lenny15]

Quote: Originally Posted by stryder

Makes much more sense now that you explained the new topic. Though BMW isn't too big on hybrids, they've been pushing hydrogen (including a hydrogren MINI), but you never know.

It should be lower then 15ppm I think, according to the US dept of Energy:

Refineries cracking European deisel fuel can just as easily ship to the U.S.