BMW rumored to fit the new X3 M with a tri-turbo six-cylinder unit
According to the British people from CAR, the Bavarians are currently working on the M version of the current BMW X3 F25, the sporty version of the German SAV following to enter the market somewhere next year. However, these details are not officially confirmed by BMW but the British publication claims that well placed confirmed these assumptions.
According to the first details, BMW is now developing a tri-turbo unit based on the current 3.0-liter engine. This means that the six-cylinder unit will transform into a 3.2-liter engine and will benefit from three turbochargers, two exhaust-gas driven and an additional electric one.
With this setup, the new 3.2-liter tri-turbo unit would be able to offer around 450 horsepower but as mentioned above, BMW declined to comment these rumors and until now, no prototypes of the new X3 M were seen being tested on the road. This is also a concerning detail as if we give credit to the assumptions according to, the M version of X3 will debut next year, we should have been prototypes being tested.
If the 2011 BMW X3 starts at a price of $37,625, the new X3 M should come with a starting price of around $80,000. The current BMW X3 F25 is offered stateside with two engine options. The BMW X3 xDrive28i features a 3.0-liter six-cylinder engine able to offer 240 horsepower and 311 Nm of torque.
With these resources, the German SAV sprints from 0 to 100 km/h in just 6,7 seconds. The second option is the xDrive35i version which gets a more powerful unit, a 3.0-liter with twin-scroll turbo technology offering 300 horsepower and 406 Nm of torque, allowing the acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h to be achieved in 5,5 seconds.
With this been said, a tri-turbo 3.2-liter engine developing around 450 horsepower will be an attractive alternative to the engine range of the current X3 disclosed above. The same “well placed” sources provided the British people new information on the next-generation X5 M and X6 M. According to them, the 4.4-liter V8 will be revised in order to offer more horses, around 560 ponies to be more exact, while the fuel efficiency is rumored to be improved by about 10%.
While no (spy) photos with the new X3 M are available, the photo gallery of this post consists of images with the BMW X3 M Sport package revealed last year.