BMW's research and development head, Klaus Draeger, has confirmed that future BMWs will indeed utilize new turbocharged 3-cylinder gas and diesel engines. This begs the question which future models will receive these 3 cylinder motors. According to Draeger (via
Autocar), the upcoming FWD 1-series models will receive the 1.5L turbo 3-cylinder and not the F30 3-series (at least not initially?)
“They are not a priority for the 3-series,” Draeger told Autocar last week. “We’ll start with the front-wheel drive architecture and more price-sensitive models.”
Instead, the smallest engine we expect to see for the F30 3-series in the US is the 245hp 2.0L turbo 4-cylinder N20 engine.
Draeger revealed that the petrol version of the engine, known internally as N37, has the potential to match the maximum 54bhp-per-cylinder rating of the firm’s recently introduced turbocharged 2.0-litre, four-cylinder N20. This suggests range-topping versions of the new triple will develop
up to 160bhp.
The key to the new engine’s efficiency, says Draeger, is its
capacity-to-surface-area ratio,
which he describes as being better than any existing BMW
engine for thermal performance.
In a bid to dispel the idea that three-pot engines are used for cost-saving, Draeger said, “The three-cylinder engines are not cheap. They are every bit as hi-tech as our four and six-cylinder engines.”
We
previously reported that this 3-cylinder engine range (gasoline and diesel) will receive the
TwinPower Turbo treatment.
The TwinPower Turbo package combines a single twin-scroll turbocharger, direct injection and full variable valvetronic. It first debuted on the N55 motor in the 5-series GT in 2009 and most recently on the first 4-cylinder motor, with the 2.0L N20 gasoline engine in the X1 xDrive28i. The use of this technology allows for increased horsepower while decreasing CO2 emissions. As an example, the N20 outputs 245hp compared to just 156hp from the naturally aspirated version.