Diesels are way cool, I never knew until I drove a diesel Passat in Italy a few years ago- even with two adults and two teenagers plus luggage, the thing had amazing balls and still sipped the juice. I think they shoud reconsider the US.

The MINI E is basically a project to test the viability of electric cars in the US and get real world data on what works, what people like/don’t like, etc. BMW has no plans to profit from this car, in fact they are probably paying much, much more for the program than what they can get from the monthly lease price. But, it is a cost for R&D and gathering engineering info so that at some point in the future they will be able to profitably sell electric vehicles. This is a limited time exercise to help them better understand an all-new technology and they won’t introduce a mass-market version of an electric car until the economics make sense.

The MINI diesel is already an established product and it is simply a matter of BMW not being able to make the numbers work. There is no reason to “subsidize” that car like they are doing with the E. The cost of certifying and offering a diesel on this car would mean that it would cost more than a JCW. At that price, who is going to buy the car? At somewhere in the range of a Cooper/Cooper S I think it could sell, but that is just not something that is realistic given the extra costs. The profit margin is so small on a MINI that they can not possibly find a way to sell it cheaper.

The only way that we will see a diesel in the MINI is if BMW is able to make a business case for certifying that engine for the next 1-series, 3-series, and/or X1. If, and only if, they can spread the cost over several models could I see BMW being able to make the numbers work for a MINI D. And by then, the next generation MINI will likely be on the market.

Good point on the MINI E, Lukas.

Hey guys aint this the same 2 liter engine on the 123d so whats the fuss BMW is talking about, this same engine will be available on the X1 anyway, Aint this some crock!!!

Not in the US at this time.

However, it appears that BMW/MINI is skipping diesel power as an alternative fuel for their small cars in the US, instead considering electric power as the future (MINI E; 1-series E). You can thank our goverment for that; with incentives for ZEVs, along with cheap gasoline, it doesn’t make sense to invest in diesels.

I understand that it is a big investment to bring diesel here in the U.S. However, I would argue, that the Mini E is even more of a big investment, considering the widely known fact that BMW is not making any money from it. It seems contradictory to argue that taking a big risk in investing in some unproven technology is ok, but making a significant investment in bringing a proven, well understood, well established technology to the U.S. that can potentially be used across several models (in both Mini and BMW) is some how too big of a risk to take.

Given the higher cost of getting emissions to acceptable levels, BMW have positioned diesel models as premium. However, the diesel image in the U.S. is unfamiliar at best and very bad at worst. Given the bad image, people are not be willing to pay for diesel models at a premium (and those who are, are few and far in between). If anything, diesel models need to be positioned as a base model (as VW and Audi has done) to gain widespread acceptance — which is the “big risk” because they would need to sell a higher cost product at a lower price point.

For those who are advocating for a diesel Mini in the U.S. are you willing to pay a STARTING price of US$34K and up for a Cooper S diesel? I, for one, am willing… ;-)

A shame Canada is such a small a market next to the USA that it often misses out even though demographics would strongly argue for a Canadian-only model (demographics more similar to northern EU than the USA in some respects). We do get some lower-cost models in Canada (Cooper Classic) and these sell very well so I had hoped MINI would release the diesel to Canada on that basis. Perhaps not this time around, it seems.

Hybrid technology is a top gap technology, at best, and the real alternative has been posed by high tech diesel powerplants.

It all comes down to Dollars and cents. And no matter how much spin BMW and MINIUSA want to put in the subject, it is a very poor decision not to bring their diesel offerings here and it will haunt them for years to come. Mark my words.

Also honda will begin to offer diesels in the US. The carbon footprint left by the manufacture of a Hybrid vehicle is nothing to sneeze at…

If BMW has managed to circumvent the Draconian CARB hurdles with its diesels and the same engine is being used in the MINI D then please explain the basis for excluding it from the U.S. market.

BMW spent many millions of dollars on one engine they could use in two vehicles as a test to see if the US was ready for premium efficient diesels. Remember in automotive terms BMW is a small company. They can’t afford to many many risks. As it stands the X5 diesel is selling well. The 3 Series Diesel? Not so much. As you can imagine Munich is weary of making a mistake on a car that already has razor thing profit margins.

VW on the other hand uses one diesel engine across multiple brand and models. Sure it cost a great deal to federalize but as a much larger company and with the engine spread across many products, it makes much more sense.

Audi, BMW and VW all offer diesels in the U.S. It is ridiculous for MINI to exclude itself particularly in light of the success of its recently introduced U.S. diesels. The MINI D would likely be snapped up by many consumers, including those that do not necessarily fit the typical MINI buyer demographic. We need it! We want it! We will buy it! Now it’s time for BMW to deliver the goods!

I think the R60 would be the best place for an efficient diesel because of the extra weight and drivetrain losses of awd, but them still be able to keep the great MINI mpg.