Photo: bmw
In a very interesting article about engine balancing, Road & Track senior editor, Jason Cammisa made a rather surprising reveal about BMW’s approach towards V6 engines. Apparently, the Bavarian engineers are building such units on the regular but due to their characteristics they never make it to production.
“Munich engineers admit that they regularly develop and test prototype V-6s, per internal policy, but say the results don't come close to meeting company noise and harshness standards. Mercedes-Benz must not have such stringent benchmarks,” Jason says in his article.
While it might seem surprising at first, the whole ordeal makes sense to some degree. The advantages of the V6 are rather obvious and they make sense considering the driving dynamics a BMW should have.
Grouping the 6 cylinders of an engine in a V shape saves a lot of room, therefore allowing the engineers to position it closer to the center of the car, giving it a more balanced chassis. However, there are certain disadvantages as well and they are far to great for BMW to ignore and go V6.
A V6 configuration is noisier and harder to balance than an inline 6 version of the same engine. Furthermore, you need more parts and more research to bring it to the same level of performance. A straight six doesn’t need balance shafts because the even number of cylinders will balance itself. The same goes for counterweights, split crankpins and so on. Not to mention how much easier it is to make modular plants out of it just by cutting one, two or three cylinders.
It’s rather interesting though to learn about BMW’s research in the field and, even though we can’t imagine a future V6 on a blue and white roundel-fitted car, we might be seeing one nonetheless. The same was said about SUVs and FWD not too long ago...
While it might seem surprising at first, the whole ordeal makes sense to some degree. The advantages of the V6 are rather obvious and they make sense considering the driving dynamics a BMW should have.
Grouping the 6 cylinders of an engine in a V shape saves a lot of room, therefore allowing the engineers to position it closer to the center of the car, giving it a more balanced chassis. However, there are certain disadvantages as well and they are far to great for BMW to ignore and go V6.
A V6 configuration is noisier and harder to balance than an inline 6 version of the same engine. Furthermore, you need more parts and more research to bring it to the same level of performance. A straight six doesn’t need balance shafts because the even number of cylinders will balance itself. The same goes for counterweights, split crankpins and so on. Not to mention how much easier it is to make modular plants out of it just by cutting one, two or three cylinders.
It’s rather interesting though to learn about BMW’s research in the field and, even though we can’t imagine a future V6 on a blue and white roundel-fitted car, we might be seeing one nonetheless. The same was said about SUVs and FWD not too long ago...
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