Over on the TDI Forums, a lot of those guys were picking up the BMW diesels, since VW dropped the diesels here. Oh, well.
Its not about lawsuits, its about costs and sales. Through the first half of the year, bmw sold about 3 times more plug-ins than diesels. June 2018 Hybrid Cars Sales Dashboard BMW's best selling diesel in the US is the X5, and since this is being updated, it probably costs more than it is worth to make the diesel version compliant with US regulations. With the phev choice the diesel doesn't make much sense in this class of fast luxury SUV in the US. The only disadvantage I can see on the phev versus diesel is storage space but my guess is this will be less of a factor in the redesign. I don't think they will lose one customer, and the better cafe of the phev versus diesel or other versions will help bmw meet US mileage requirements. Diesel versions will be available for other markets, but these don't have the same diesel regulations as the US. https://www.motortrend.com/news/2021-bmw-x5-xdrive45e-iperformance-plug-in-hybrid-planned-for-u-s/ For the sports sedan side of the market, the added torque of a phev makes a lot more sense than the worse nvh and higher maintenance costs of a epa compliant diesel. I definitely see a market for diesels for pick up trucks, and high mileage or heavily used off road SUVs. The luxury market though looks like plug-ins will become a big factor as battery prices continue to fall, and manufacturers design the vehicles to take advantage of the power source.
Except they don't stink like they used too with ULSD and their emission systems. Commercial trucks stink because old engines are rebuilt and installed in new gliders; that loop hole is no longer being closed. From the renewable fuels front, this is a shame, but then BMWs could only tolerate B5.
