Never owned a diesel, just not really considered it...
Car history has been Fiesta Ghia, twin choke weber carb (nearest thing to a turbo then), Cavalier SRI (115) joke from a 1.8 engine?? Couple of Astra GTE 16v's and Mk1 Leon Cupra R QST mapped, just always done petrol..
Have a long term association of diesel with astra vans and transits, well out of date i know...
All the major manufacturers have invested massively in tech, BMW doing their bit and advances have been massive in power/economy/driveability in recent years and must say recently would find it harder to decide between a diesel and petrol..
Would be a 335i over a d, don't do massive miles and like a revving engine, from 16v era and always had performance bikes..
Surprisingly, not such an easy decision for this 39 y/o.