Lending further credence to rumors that BMW will be launching a new engine line that will feature three and four cylinders and comparatively small displacements is a report from Channel 4 in the UK that quotes BMW chief engineer Holger Winkelmann as saying the German automaker will soon launch the "most advanced small engine range ever."

Winkelmann goes on to say that the new engine architecture will draw heavily on BMW's turbocharging, direct injection, variable valve timing and intake technology as featured on the automaker's excellent range of powerplants available today. Interestingly, Winkelmann suggests that these new three- and four-cylinder engines will replace a number of BMW's classic inline-sixes.

Earlier reports suggested that this new line would use engines as small as 1.35 liters and up to 1.8 liters. Power output would range from 163 horsepower and 140 lb-ft of torque up to a high-performance unit with as much as 321 horsepower.

[Source: Channel 4]

This fall, BMW will be introducing two new upgraded diesel engines to the recently launched 7-series in the 730d and 740d. Both engines have a 3.0-liter inline 6-cylinder layout with common rail injection and turbochargers. The 740d gets the 306 hp twin turbo engine we reported on earlier this week. The high end diesel gets the 740d to 62 mph in 6.3 seconds while scoring a combined 34.1 mpg (U.S.) on the EU drive cycle.

The single turbo version of the engine in the 730d also gets upgrades for 2010. With an output of 245 hp, the 730d does slightly better on the EU drive cycle at 34.6 mpg (U.S.) with CO₂ emissions of 178 g/km. More importantly, it gets BMW's BluePerformance package which adds a NOx trap to the diesel particulate filter. The NOx trap allows the 730d to meet the 2014 EU6 emissions standards.

While the EURO VI standard is significantly tighter it still allows about twice as much NOx as the U.S. Tier 2 Bin 5 standard, so we likely won't be seeing either of these models in the U.S. anytime soon.


[Source: BMW]
Photos Copyright ©2009 Sam Abuelsamid / Weblogs, Inc.

Ford isn't the only automaker involved in a new EV test program being funded by the Technology Strategy Board in the UK. BMW will also be a part of the year-long, £25 million field test with its MINI E. Scottish and Southern Energy will be testing the cars along with the Focus EVs we reported on previously. Also participating in the evaluation will be Oxford Brookes University's Sustainable Vehicle Engineering Centre, the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA), the Oxford City Council and Oxfordshire County Council. Oxford, of course, is home to the MINI factory along with some old university.

The utility company will install public and private charging stations around the Oxford area for use by the drivers of the cars and monitoring usage data. The MINI E is powered by a 35 kWh lithium ion battery pack and electric motor. 450 MINI Es are currently being distributed to lessees here in the United States as part of an even larger public field test.


[Source: BMW]
Photos Copyright ©2008 Sam Abuelsamid / Weblogs, Inc.

BMW has just announced an upgraded version of its 3.0-liter inline six-cylinder diesel engine. The new version retains the same displacement, yet output for the European spec version is increased from 286 horsepower and 428 lb-ft of torque to 306 hp and 442 lb-ft. At the same time, fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions are reduced by four percent compared to the previous version.

BMW has updated the fuel injection system to its latest generation common rail system. That means the injector pressure has been bumped from 1,600 BAR (23,000 psi) to 2,000 BAR (29,000 psi), allowing for even more precise metering of the fuel flow. The dual stage turbocharger system is now also more efficient. Since BMW only just introduced a version of the previous engine with U.S.-legal after-treatment systems in late 2008, it seems unlikely that the U.S. will receive the upgrades in the near future.

[Source: BMW]

BMW is expected to roll out the production version of its new 755ih hybrid luxury sedan later this year at the Frankfurt Motor Show. With little to differentiate the new gas-saving 7 Series from the rest of the German automaker's thirstier 7s, it's not surprising that the vehicle has been spotted out an about on European roadways with absolutely zero camouflage. The only way to tell it's a hybrid are small HYBRID Erprobungsfahrzeug (HYBRID Vehicle Testing) badges.

Under the 755ih's long hood sits a version of BMW's twin-turbo 4.4-liter V8 powerplant that's been mated up to a new eight-speed automatic transmission with a 20kW pancake electric motor sandwiched in between. The AC motor can provide an impressive 155 lb-ft of torque to the already potent 400-plus horsepower gasoline mill.

BMW is claiming a 15 percent improvement in fuel efficiency from the mild hybrid over the standard 7 Series V8, along with a bit more performance and, naturally, a slightly higher price tag.


[Source: BMW Blog]

Following last week's announcement of the production version of the new BMW 5-series Gran Turismo comes a new more fuel efficient engine variant. For the last two years, BMW has offered a twin turbocharged 3.0-liter inline 6-cylinder engine in the 335i, 535i and X5. When the new 535i Gran Turismo launches this fall it will be powered by a new single turbo edition of the same engine. Like the twin turbo, the new unit is also direct fuel injection with piezo injectors.

Loosing a turbo costs the engine 20 hp, bringing it from 326 hp to 306 hp, but peak torque stays the same at 295 lb-ft. The new engine does gain BMW's Valvetronic system with variable lift and cam phasing. The Valvetronic system reduces the amount of engine vacuum at light load reducing pumping losses. The combination of technologies allows the engine to achieve its peak torque at just 1,200 rpm so that drivers can get good low speed acceleration without having to excessively rev the engine. The 535i GT is rated at 26.4 mpg (U.S.) on the combined EU test cycle. Further aiding efficiency is a an electronically controlled oil pump to reduce parasitic losses.

Finally, the engine is mated up with a new eight speed automatic transmission that will be standard on 5-series Gran Turismos regardless of what engine is installed.

[Source: BMW]

Autospies says that they've gotten their hands on the first picture of "BMW regenerative brake technology in action on a USA model" (a 550i GT). Well, we're interested in the technology, but something about the Celsius temperature gauge and the kilometer label tells us that maybe this is a Eurospec dash. Whatever the case, one nifty feature of the way BMW's system works is that the alternator disengages until the vehicle slows down. This way, efficiency is increased because the freewheeling alternator doesn't draw power when it's not needed. An Absorption Glass Mat (AGM) battery helps provide power when needed if the car isn't slowing down. You can learn more about the system here. Thanks to Agent001 for the tip!

[Source: AutoSpies]

Take a good look at the spy shot above. The car you see is obviously a MINI of some sort, though nobody seems quite sure what to make of it. There's certainly a possibility that it's nothing more than a clay mock-up of a possible design direction that didn't make it into production, but it could also be some sort of early prototype for a future vehicle.

L'Automobile Magazine, the French site that the images originate from, seems to believe that this is a new version of the MINI Cooper that will be ready sometime in 2011. If so, it's clear that the car's basic shape will remain the same while details like the droopy front grille and oval-shaped head lamps will be borrowed from the MINI Crossover Concept that debuted at the Paris Motor Show in 2008.

According to World Car Fans and BMWBlog, there also exists the possibility that this is the upcoming Megacity electric vehicle, an eco-friendly offshoot of the MINI family that's part of parent company BMW's Project i initiative. So, just what is this thing exactly? Dunno. We're taking the wait-and-see approach.

[Source: L'Automobile Magazine - translated]

According to a report on Sky Motoring in the UK, BMW is working on a new range of 3- and 4-cylinder engines for use in its next-gen 1 Series, 3 Series and Z2 Roadster. If there is indeed an inline-three engine in the pipeline, we'd be shocked to see it installed in BMW's bread-and-butter 3 Series, but it may be plausible for the entry-level 1 Series.

Displacing just 1.35 liters, the 3-cylinder powerplant would reportedly be offered in outputs ranging from 163 horsepower and 140 lb-ft of torque all the way up to a turbocharged 241 horsepower and 192 lb-ft of torque. If true, that's a ton of power for such a small engine that's durable enough to see duty installed in a passenger car. The engine family would also include a 1.8L turbocharged 4-cylinder with either 273 or 321 horsepower.

At this point, we're taking all of this with an appropriately large grain of salt, but assuming that these rumors are accurate, we'd also expect to see this engine family used by the German automaker's Project i series of eco-friendly vehicles.

[Source: Sky Motoring]

Back in the summer of 2007, BMW and the University of Bath put their combined heads together and designed a vehicle called the Compact Low Emission Vehicle for Urban Transportation, or Clever for short. Using just 3 wheels and an engine that was designed to run on compressed natural gas, the Clever concept emitted just half the carbon dioxide of normal economy cars.

BMW may revisit this design for a future production model under its Project i program, which has the goal of finding new ways to create sustainable models for our transportation needs. The Clever would be just one vehicle in a range consisting of multiple two-, three- and four-wheeled vehicles.

As much as we'd love to see a completely electric line from the German automaker, we may be waiting a while. iMotor in the U.K. quotes an unnamed spokesperson for BMW as saying:

We are committed to producing a super economical or zero emission vehicle or range of vehicles. However, it's going to be at least five years until we have production models one the road.

In the meantime, BMW may be forced to fall back on its motorcycle division to locate a suitable set of powerplants for Project i.


[Source: iMotor]