The days of the diesel engine seem to be numbered. Due to some serious damage done by the Dieselgate scandal, sales of the compression-ignition models are currently taking a turn for the worse, an unexpected turn of events, to be honest. However, some people still love the torque and efficiency of diesel mills, such as the gentleman with this modified BMW E60 535d who not only daily drives this thing but also tuned it to deliver more power.
The aim was to squeeze as much power out of the engine as possible and I’d think he did a great job. In standard guise, the E60 535d would come with a 3-liter straight six, bi-turbo diesel engine good for 272 HP and 560 Nm (413 lb-ft) of torque. Not that bad for those days, but there was definitely a bit more oomph left in there. This particular car claims to be putting out 440 HP and 900 Nm (664 lb-ft) of torque, numbers incredibly high for a car of this age.
Nevertheless, it does deliver some incredible runs against much more powerful and newer rivals on the drag strip. We get to see it take down a Brabus GLE63 S AMG model, it then takes on a Tesla Model S Shooting Brake, a custom version, of course, since the American car maker isn’t making such contraptions. We don’t know which version of the Model S was used as a basis but I reckon it was definitely not a P100D.
This ‘little 5er that could’ also takes on several other BMWs. From an F10 M5 which nearly loses to it, to the brand new F90 M5, which is a proper land rocket and secures an easy win, despite boggling the launch. Even another diesel BMW shows up, a tuned E92 335d, the two setting up a proper smoke show while drag racing.
