Interesting article on BMW and Mercedes opting to turbo their cars in the future.
http://www.caranddriver.com/article....ticle_id=10753


Don't flame if it is a repost. I did a search

 

not a repost at all. I really like that, id get that car!! it will probably be pretty cheap to get mass hp out of that drivetraine in the aftermarket.

 

thats a biggest shame from bmw as i know it

 

why?

 

depend on how bullet proof the drivetrain is. this is essentially the same system as the legendary 2jZ twint turbo supras... 3.0L inline 6 fed by twin turbos to minimize lag. Except this engine is much more advanced. Im very tempted to trade in my G coupe for one if this thing has a relatively bullet proof drivetrain that can handle mass boost. Id definetly get this over the new Supra.

 

A BMW will be the choice car for the boy ricers who get a good job and trade in their civics. I think its good for BMW, but it could potentially ruin their image over time.

 

i rather see it as a solution for car lovers who wants the raw power and potential of the EVO and STI in a luxury car packadge. Depending on how bulletproof the drivetrain is, with 2 extra cylinders and much bigger displacement, it might have even more tuning potential than the evo/sti. we'll see how this drivetrain stack up when this thing comes out. I think the extra price over the 330i is pretty reasonable.

 

BMW used to trumpet the fact that they had no F/I engines, that all their engines were "pure". This came out mostly after AMG started supercharging their engines and producing 600hp monsters.

 

looks like a camry.

302hp turbo 6? They can make 300+hp NA 6's... 302 seems a little weak, but I guess they don't want to out power the M cars.

 

i wouldnt be suprised if you can drop 2000 bucks and end up with a 400whp monster thats faster than the new M3. in fact it might be just as fast as the current M3 already, notice the huge torque advantage it has over the E46.

 

I believe that this system uses twin turbos, like the Audis, rather than sequential turbos, like the Supra, to force feed air into the cylinders. BMW went with an iron block for their S54 engine despite that being naturally aspirated, so I'm not sure exactly how strong this new magnesium/aluminum block is. It will almost certainly be strong enough to outdo the upcoming M3 modded vs stock, but whether it ends up as a better performance value in the end remains to be seen.

How would selling more cars ruin BMWs image over time? A price in the low to mid $40,000 would put it far out of the range of your average ricer type. There are also far more potent performance cars in that price range, so if they really did want a fast car with lots of potential, their $42,000 could be far better spent. Besides, have you ever seen the price of mods for BMWs? That alone will scare of a lot of the people used to cheap mods on other cars.

 

don't get me wrong- i love german cars. but, they really are getting way too expensive these days... $42k for a 3-series? ack! i would much rather settle for a lexus IS even tho it doesn't drive as nice if that means i can save about $10k.

 

It will probably have some decent potential, but keep in mind the turbos on are are probably tiny. Upping the boost and adding some boltons probably won't do a whole hell of a lot, you'd be looking at going with a big single or two larger twins, probably along with some expensive fabrication and kit to go along with the turbos and extra intercooling.

 

True, the IS350 seems like a good alternative

 

I think it's a smart move by BMW, people will certainly take notice and there are going to be a lot of curious buyers that will check out the 3 series that may not have otherwise. Also, when you look at the figures for a car like the new IS350 and the G35 amongst others, BMW had to do something to help seperate themselves from the pack a little more

 

can anyone elaborate on the "piezoelectric direct injection." i'm curious as to how the piezoelectric element enhances performance

 

yeah well see when it comes out. 2 small turbos might be enough to produce decent boost. plus some european FI cars tend to be very tunable. 40whp with a chip etc etc. im not going to expect too much of it, but ill wait and see what happens to see how much potential this thing has. if it can get 300whp for 2 thousand bucks, and 400whp relatively cheap then i tihnk itd make a really good tunning platform

 

This should help you out.

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2006...esbenz_pr.html

 

I don't doubt that it will see some nice gains with some changes engine management (chip, piggyback,flash, etc.). I just think it's going to be more along the lines of modding a GTI, once you up the bost a bit and play with fuel maps and throw an exhaust on it, it's time for major work if you want some decent gains. Cars like the Supra and the Evo can get remarkable gains while still retianing the stock turbo and not having to make any major upgrades. While this new engine will be more advanced than the 2JZ and 4G63, I'll be absolutely shocked if the bottom end and internals are anywhere near as strong.

Still, it'll be cool that some decent gains will be possible in a BMW without dropping huge amounts of money as has been the case in the past.

 

thanks for the link. interesting stuff! repair costs are probably gonna suck though...

 

not for me...muahahahaha!!

 

It think there's something else at work here as well. The potential performance gap between the 330 coupe and new M3. It was just going to be too large and the new M3 pretty expensive. So this is BMW trying to satisfy the market for those who want more than a standard 3 series coupe, but can't afford the outrageous price of the new M3.

 

I for 1 don't like the idea of a turbo bmw.

 

BMW made very good turbo motors at one point.

 

sure they do but it won't be cheap.