BMW’s three cylinder engines have gathered more than a bit of attention lately. They are spoken of with great pride by the Bavarian car maker and yet the enthusiasts are less than thrilled.

To meet them halfway, the Internet is ready to provide us with a favorable argument. Here’s a couple of videos courtesy of BimmerToday and PaulTan which are meant to show us what the three cylinder turbo is about.

The critical aspects of noise and performance are what you should notice here. It is also important to stress that the F20 BMW 1 Series is the model used fr these tests.

Taking one of these cars for a drive should, in theory, be the sort of experience that drones away, offers no excitement and is just a tool.

It may not impress, and it may not thrill you but it gets you home in an economical manner, doesn’t harm the air and all that green stuff. But have a watch:

Decent performance at speeds generally used on the open road are beyond what the typical four cylinder could ever manage.

The noise isn’t bad either. Some people lovingly say it sounds like a six cylinder and others completely hate it because it has a diesel-like idle.

Each of them have a seed of truth onto which they can lay their exaggerating suppositions. Even without over-reacting, this engine seems to be much better than the holocaust we all thought.

Don’t get me wrong, I still believe BMW’s naturally aspirated straight six cylinder engines are the powerplant you should want, but these newer creations are very impressive too.

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Marcus M.

http://www.bmwcoop.com

The post BMW three cylinder engines seen on video appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.

It has taken decades for car makers to convince the American buyer that relatively smaller engined cars from Europe have more than enough performance.

They may not always come with a V8 but a six cylinder engine can be enough for most people. It took almost as much to talk them into turbochargers.

Is this enough to consider people will accept a mix between downsizing and turbocharging very soon? BMW certainly thinks so.

The Bavarian company will be sending its new 1.5 liter three cylinder engine over the Atlantic with some of their smaller cars.

Thanks to twin-turbocharging and a lot of engineering work, this engine will be ready to produce anywhere between 120 and 220 horsepower.

Neither of these figures will worry fellas driving muscle cars but in small BMWs it will certainly zip around quicker than most small cars while also being economical.

Decent selling points but how is this going to help out the way the Americans will be buying 1.5 liter engines? Well, according to BMW, it’s the simplicity.

If a car feels like it has decent grunt, buyers couldn’t care less if it’s a V12 or a one cylinder scooter. There is some logic in that, after all, not everybody knows what cares about what’s going on under the bonnet.

In order to further create some confusion, BMW claim that their half a six cylinder engine will actually behave like such an engine and make the same noise.

That might be some optimistic marketing stuff but we’re yet to see people lose interest in the i8 and it comes with this precise engine.

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Marcus M.

http://www.bmwcoop.com

The post BMW three cylinder engines are going to the United States appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.

Now that the cat’s out of the bag with the BMW Sports Active Tourer or 1 Series GT, its engine is starting to take center stage. The 1.5 liter TwinPower Turbo reckons its worth its own press release.

That press release speaks of the three cylinder engine getting all the toys. Simply because it’s small doesn’t mean it’s missing out on any technology.

In fact, the only thing missing is (at least) one cylinder. The pistons and every component directly involved are now going through a plan to keep things simple.

Every cylinder has a .5 liter capacity. Moreover, BMW have even produced figures over what each of them can develop, depending on fuel used.

40-74 horsepower and 44-59 lb-ft of torque per cylinder is what you can expect for the petrol engines with some 27-60 horses and 55-81 lb-ft of twist coming out of the diesel units.

That means that final outputs will range between 120 and 222 horsepower with 133-177 lb-ft of twist for the petrols, while the diesels will span between 80HP and 180 horsepower, respectively 165-243 lb-ft of torque.

In order to produce these figures, BMW uses twin scroll turbocharging, an aluminum block, double Vanos variable camshaft control, Valvetronic variable valve timing and direct injection for petrol or common rail for the diesels.

There’s one last crucial thing about the 1.5 liter TwinPower Turbo engine family we should mention. BMW claim the sound they make is actually extraordinary.

A torsional vibration damper’s involvement, combined with the three cylinder’s natural tune, make for a decently smooth running engine and a raunchy noise.

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Marcus M.

http://www.bmwcoop.com

The post BMW 1.5 liter TwinPower Turbo engine detailed appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.

BMW may be looking into giving old school brand enthusiasts yet another heart attack with their latest of announcements.

It would seem like the future of the BMW 3 Series, not sure when but it’s coming up next, would find us looking at a three cylinder engine underneath.

We’re not looking at some rumor or some spoof announcement like the sort we’re getting from Lamborghini, it’s the real deal.

The news comes from BMW’s engine development boss, Peter Nefischer. In an interview for Whatcar he leaked the information in a rather clear way. This wasn’t something accidental.

This probably means that BMW is well into the development of the new engine which will, apparently, be different from the three cylinder in the i8.

That said, the development part isn’t a surprise since the estimates for the new three cylinder powerplant finding way under the bonnet of the 3 Series come in at around two years time.

As we’ve gotten used to lately, in the pursuit of efficiency, the engines are downsized. In the pursuit of keeping performance levels high, forced induction will be employed.

The new three-pot BMW plans to stick in the 3 Series will be turbocharged, just like the rest of the engines under its bonnet.

Figures on fuel economy, pricing and such haven’t even been mentioned but what I suppose you should have in mind is the sort of stuff the BMW 316i offered not that long ago.

It would be very interesting to see what kind of turbocharging method BMW will use for their three cylinder engine since they will want to make it as smooth as possible.

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Marcus M.

http://www.bmwcoop.com

The post BMW 3 Series to feature three cylinders appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.