I rant about bad photos a lot here on Barn Finds, and craigslist ads seem to be the worst. My apologies for that. Here’s a listing for a 1984 Lincoln Continental with a BMW turbodiesel engine, and the car looked so nice that I had to grab the tip sent in by turbo-powered Tony P! The car is posted here on craigslist in Veneta, Oregon, and they’re asking $6,500. Here is the original listing.
Maybe my favorite Lincoln Continental design since the classic fourth-generation cars (I had a ’66 Continental Coupe, some of you may remember), the seventh-generation Continentals were made for model years 1982 through 1987. Maybe I like them so much because, for me, between 1982 and 1987, I went from parking and washing cars to owning a successful business in my early-20s. I’m also a bustle-back fan, and this body style is great, in my opinion.
The Light Sage paint color is gorgeous, in my opinion, and the matching Sage Green fabric seats look as nice as the exterior does. I don’t see a flaw in this car yet. The bustle-back design was meant to go head-to-head with Cadillac’s bustle-back Seville, and it was a very much toned-down version of that unusual style. The seller is fairly light in photos, and the first photo was a very small vertical; my apologies for how pixelated that one is.
The back seat is shown here, and this is all we see of it, sadly. It’s more for showing the sagging rear headliner, so that’s nice that the seller doesn’t appear to be hiding anything. Their listing is incredibly short, though: “runs and drives good has around 91,000 miles BMW turbo diesel strait 6 engine.” That’s it, no punctuation, no capital letters other than BMW, just bickety-bam, here you go. Here’s a fun brochure of the ’84 Lincoln Continentals.
Still, all is not lost when a craigslist seller takes the time to pop the hood and show an engine photo! Some surface rust is visible here on some of the fasteners and other parts, but the big deal here is the 2.4-liter OHC inline-six, fuel-injected turbodiesel engine! It was jointly designed by BMW, Motoren, and Ford and was rated at a mere 115 horsepower and 155 lb-ft of torque, for a 0 to 60 time of 14.5 seconds, so hit those on ramps hard. It has a fuel-conditioning system with a water separator, a fuel heater, and a water level warning light. It’s backed by a ZF 4HP22 four-speed automatic sending power to the rear wheels. We know it runs well, and this car looks great to me. Popping the hood would ensure a crowd at any Cars & Coffee-type event. Would any of you drive a BMW diesel-powered Continental with a bustle back? I sure would.
You would also have great fun hanging out with the boys at the truck stop!
How sensible it was for Ford to “co-develop” with BMW, instead of writing off the entire two year belly-flop.
Surprising Ford of Europe didn’t have a suitable engine, but even there until around this time diesel was mainly for vans and taxicabs.
Once again, I’ve learned something new. I did not know you could get a mid 80’s Continental with a Diesel, and one that BMW had a hand in its design nonetheless. Really cool. Those numbers may not sound like much, but I’d be willing to wager dollars for donuts that the torque starts at a nice low rpm, probably cruises somewhat effortlessly. Thanks for teaching me something new today Scotty.
Beautiful Continental, with a garbage engine. Probably wouldn’t be worth a 302 swap, unless you’re planning on keeping it for a while.
Can’t say I remember ever seeing one on the road w rhe diesel. Lovely cars.
Oh man. Very bummed that there is no driving video. I would love to hear what this sounds like!
They are fairly quiet (for a,diesel) . Special attention was spent perfecting the injection timing for not only queit running. But also for fuel efficiency. (One of the reasons the GM DuraMax is so quiet. ) When I worked at BMW customers would state that it couldn’t be a diesel because it was so quiet. I would reach down and unplug the timing control wire and THEN it sounded like a diesel truck! (You have to remember this was the middle ’80s)
Is there something wrong with these engines?
No. These used the M21 BMW 2.4 liter turbodiesel. That’s considered to be a reliable and robust engine that was used throughout the 1980s in the E30, E28, and E34 models. The problem that it was pretty slow as it only had 115 horsepower. It was offered in Lincolns at a time when gas prices were rapidly dropping and Americans who wanted economical cars tended to buy small cheap cars , not big expensive cars trying to be fuel efficient. And by the time this came out, GM had pretty much obliterated the diesel’s reputation in the United States with the Olds diesel debacle.
For a small displacement diesel engine, that’s not bad. I’d drive either a BMW Turbo Diesel, a Mercedes-Benz Turbo Diesel or possibly a Duramax 2.8 litre Turbo Diesel, if it fits.
The M21 diesel had VERY similar HP and torque to the M20 at least in its low revving eta version. I had several BMW 528e sedans and you could sort of drive them like a diesel, let the torque drag you around, no point in revving to the 4750 redline.
Costco prices today for gas & diesel:
Regular $2.89
Premium $3.39
Diesel $3.89—34% higher than regular.
The $$s are hard to justify when you consider that repairs on the diesel are considerably higher than a gas engine.
I’ve never been able to rationalize a diesel, for the same reasons. Even when diesel fuel was less than gasoline, my needs simply couldn’t justify the additional costs of ownership.
If refineries are pressed into wartime production processes, though, will they be producing gasoline or diesel, primarily? I’d bet diesel, as most rolling military & commercial vehicles are powered by diesel fuel, to my knowledge.
They are fairly quiet (for a,diesel) . Special attention was spent perfecting the injection timing for not only queit running. But also for fuel efficiency. (One of the reasons the GM DuraMax is so quiet. ) When I worked at BMW customers would state that it couldn’t be a diesel because it was so quiet. I would reach down and unplug the timing control wire and THEN it sounded like a diesel truck! (You have to remember this was the middle ’80s)
When I was selling commercial GMC trucks. Customers would ask gas or diesel. My answer was. ” If you need to carry or pull heavy loads regularly than a diesel is the way to go. If you don’t like to slow down on the hills (and in the most mountainous state in the lower 48, Nevada) then diesel is the way to go.. But, remember, if looking for only fuel savings, the diesel will take approximately 120,000 .miles to pay for it’s self. But ALSO remember that maintenance on a diesel is double to triple the cost of a gas truck. ” The majority of my customers,,after test driving a DuraMax, bought the diesel.
American BMW 524Td clone ?
Beautiful car. IMHO, this was the best looking Continental. I consider it unforgivable that it didn’t sell well. I don’t know why, but I’ve always liked Turbo Diesel powered cars. BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Duramax, etc.
Sure looks to be in good shape and the color is fresh early 80s just before green disappeared completely. IMO the Continental was better looking than the Seville, maybe just more restrained. Not a barn burner but if using the torque curve properly you shouldn’t have to run flat out to reach road speed.
If only more pics of this Continental were posted. IMHO, there’s no such thing as too many pics. There’s such thing as too few pics.
You hardly see these around anymore. I saw a MK VII with one of these BMW diesels in it a few years ago at the pick a part. Stopped me in my tracks!
Nice find Tony P! Great information from Scotty Gilbertson! The dealer brochure was fun to read! A beautiful car for going to church, and taking your family and relatives out! It’s nice to have a super comfortable and clean car on the side for special events!
Worked on a few of these at the Lincoln Mercury dealer. What a slug. Also, air suspension, which was great when it worked, but air bags prone to leakage. Expensive to repair. Don’t know if you can buy the bags anymore. Nice cars with 5.0L, but not the diesel.
Arnott sells heavy duty replacement air bags at reasonable prices. I put a pair on my 1998 Town Car.
“bickety-bam”?
My linguistic repertoire has been enhanced!
“Bickety-Bam”? That’s a phrase I’ve never heard before. What does that mean?
Go back and read Scotty’s description, you’ll have to ask him!
“That’s it, no punctuation, no capital letters other than BMW, just bickety-bam, here you go. “
Beautiful looking car. This was my favourite look for the Continental. Instead of the front being rigid upright like most Continental models of the era, its front is curved back a little bit towards the windscreen. If only more pics were posted. I don’t think there’s such thing as too many pics, there is such thing as too few pics. I like to see more of the interior, the exterior, the trunk, the engine, maybe a video of the car. It’d be fun to see the car in motion. And regarding the price for Diesel fuel? Big f- deal! If you’re working, you should be able to afford it!
I would love to have this beauty. A bit far away for me or I’d buy it now!
I liked the bustle back design. But FORD should have come up with something more original than Cadillac. And one thing still hate about FORD is that they used so many parts across all brands. The steering wheel here, for example, is the exact same one found on the lowly FORD Tempo.
You do what you’ve gotta do.