It is a very different feel, which you get used to; its almost like surfing the torque from the turbo-diesel; if you find a twisty bit of road you can just slot between the apexes of the bends in one gear, on and off the throttle. This is front wheel drive though, Im not sure how the rwd of the BMW will behave. Certainly BMW make plenty of the larger diesels with stupendous torque figures and one doesnt hear of people ending up in hedges backwards (unlike say Pug 205 gtis).
One thing turbodiesels dont like is stop-start shunty traffic, because of the belt of torque low down and the conseqeunt heavy clutch and the need to slip it slightly to get a smooth take-off. I was stuck in a many-mile queue on the M42 yesterday when they closed the motorway for 50 minutes, and that was a

none that i have ever driven, unless there is something wrong with them - that includes our scania.

lmore power than mine

Im on 145bhp and 275lb/tork iirc from my 2.5 six cilinder

yeah greg is right, just pick a gear and surf the tork (nice expresion... Im going to nick it)

actually, depending on your tyres and your driving etc... Id expect it to be better

it wont be as nippy, but once you get the hang of it (like you need to with every new car) you should be able to corner much quicker than the st would

(just what i think, giuess ive never driven an ST to confirm it!)

Another downside is that the diesel engine in my car weighs 100kg more than the similar petrol vehicle, and thats all on the front end...

Nice choice....

Well Im baised anyway, after having a 328IS Coupe.... and now have a 320IS Convertible..

Just remember if you dont want to be a stereotypical BMW driver... remember to indicate! (LOL).

Was suppose to be today, but aint got it yet, as its a part-ex car which im getting, and the new car which the guy is buying isnt ready yet

Do all diesels suffer from heavy clutchiness? Ive never driven one.

Not the couple Ive driven, a VW and a Volvo. However, as much as I like a stick shift--modern auto boxes are really nice enough to be a pretty good mix with diesels for daily grind driving. There isnt any economy penalty for such transmissions these days.