Photo: BMW
The new B-family of engines developed by BMW are the future of this company. Featuring up to 40 percent interchangeable parts between diesel and petrol powerplants, they are also more refined, cleaner and more powerful than the N-Family they are replacing.
Now, the rollout of such plants has begun with the new MINI, the 2 Series Active Tourer and the i8, all of which are using new engines. Will we see these units migrate on other models as well? Definitely, the question is which is going to get what?
The future 1 Series will definitely get the 1.5-liter 3-cylinder unit on its entry level models that will also be front-wheel drive but apart from that, is it a possibility to see them used on bigger cars. Not for now, says BMW’s Corporate Communications Manager and powertrain specialist, Manfred Poschenrieder. The biggest concern is how the audience is going to take it, apparently.
“All the other models, probably 1 Series could get this, but above this I would put a question mark, though it depends on how the market receives it. Sometimes it is based around emissions taxes. We have countries specifically looking for that, so this is all depending, but 3 Series? At the moment I would rather say the focus in on cars below the 3 Series,” he said in an interview for Australia’s Car Advice.
However, despite his careful take on the matter, such a move would make a lot of sense, especially for entry level models. At the moment, the 316i is using a 1.6-liter engine developed nearly 5 years ago in collaboration with PSA. It’s actually the engine used on the MINI range for Cooper models, that won numerous Engine of the Year awards in its various guises. It’s a brilliant unit that proved its reliability over and over again and it’s also a 4-cylinder.
Therefore, moving to a 3-cylinder 1.5-liter engine wouldn’t make too much of a difference. Furthermore, the new B38 plant would have the same amount of horsepower but more torque and it would be cleaner. According to early reports, it also sounds better, almost like a 6-cylinder.
So what’s actually keeping BMW from introducing the B38? Customers buying 316i models are definitely interested in cost savings and wouldn’t mind having 3-cylinder engines under their bonnets. Fleet managers would also not have a problem with buying such cars so the problem must be somewhere else. A facelift is due in 2016 so that’s possibly when we’ll get to see such changes take place.
We already know that there will be new models coming out, using B-family units, like the 330i and 340i. However, those models will be using 2-liter 4-cylinder and 3-liter 6-cylinder plants that were planned to be introduced for a long time. The plug-in hybrid we’ve seen testing could also use a 1.5-liter instead of a 2-liter as well, being the first model that uses a 3-cylinder in the 3 Series range.
The future 1 Series will definitely get the 1.5-liter 3-cylinder unit on its entry level models that will also be front-wheel drive but apart from that, is it a possibility to see them used on bigger cars. Not for now, says BMW’s Corporate Communications Manager and powertrain specialist, Manfred Poschenrieder. The biggest concern is how the audience is going to take it, apparently.
“All the other models, probably 1 Series could get this, but above this I would put a question mark, though it depends on how the market receives it. Sometimes it is based around emissions taxes. We have countries specifically looking for that, so this is all depending, but 3 Series? At the moment I would rather say the focus in on cars below the 3 Series,” he said in an interview for Australia’s Car Advice.
However, despite his careful take on the matter, such a move would make a lot of sense, especially for entry level models. At the moment, the 316i is using a 1.6-liter engine developed nearly 5 years ago in collaboration with PSA. It’s actually the engine used on the MINI range for Cooper models, that won numerous Engine of the Year awards in its various guises. It’s a brilliant unit that proved its reliability over and over again and it’s also a 4-cylinder.
Therefore, moving to a 3-cylinder 1.5-liter engine wouldn’t make too much of a difference. Furthermore, the new B38 plant would have the same amount of horsepower but more torque and it would be cleaner. According to early reports, it also sounds better, almost like a 6-cylinder.
So what’s actually keeping BMW from introducing the B38? Customers buying 316i models are definitely interested in cost savings and wouldn’t mind having 3-cylinder engines under their bonnets. Fleet managers would also not have a problem with buying such cars so the problem must be somewhere else. A facelift is due in 2016 so that’s possibly when we’ll get to see such changes take place.
We already know that there will be new models coming out, using B-family units, like the 330i and 340i. However, those models will be using 2-liter 4-cylinder and 3-liter 6-cylinder plants that were planned to be introduced for a long time. The plug-in hybrid we’ve seen testing could also use a 1.5-liter instead of a 2-liter as well, being the first model that uses a 3-cylinder in the 3 Series range.
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