I have a 3 Series diesel now and I love it.If I had stretched myself a bit I could have gone with the 5 Series diesel instead.But there's something really cool about a car that gets 49 *actual* miles per gallon on the Interstate and can climb Mt Evans (Colorado) without missing a beat.
I’m still driving a 1984 Mercedes 300D turbo diesel, which is probably heavier and definitely not in the same shape as that 5 series, but I still get 25mpg combined and haven’t sunk a dime into it in years.