They have to go to turbos, their NA engines outside of "M" cars are not on par with the competition for the most part. Thing is, they never feel or drive underpowered, even if their HP rating is lower than the competition.

Its funny to me b/c the N/A V-8 makes what 360hp but that is not enough. We need 400+ hp in these cars.

Wow, wow. These engines now make more power than the old M5 engine.

Wow!

Amazing how a few years ago they were being smartasses about other companies that were using FI but now, they are becoming leaders in the luxury segment with FI.

 

Great news!...
I wish this motor would also end up in something that does not weigh 2 tonns, though.

Seems like the turbocharger is back - probably because of the improved technology that cleans up the exhaust enough to pass CARB. Seems that we'll see even more turbo cars in the future when the diesels come to the US in 2009-2010.

Putting turbos in the V does make for more compact dimensions, but I wonder how the heat dissipation is going to work - 2 turbos right under the hood must give off a lot of heat - may be future BMW models will have hood vents / scoops like the Subaru?

 

Yes I thought it might be engineered to shut down half of its cylinders at cruising speed (afterall BMW has some CAFE standards to meet...not that they will), but it seems like only American car companies and Honda are utilizing active fuel management.

 

Yes, GM -

 

Ah cool, it'll be interesting to see if they toss it in the 5-series (say the 550) also.

Yeah, exactly right. I always comment on this, and honestly it makes me think less of BMW for it - like they had to sell out by going FI to compete. At the same time, the low-end torque is very impressive.

Also, I wonder how turbo lag will be on these models. BMW did a good job of limiting the turbo lag feeling on their current bi-turbo, but on the 335i it's definitely still there.

 

Leave it to BMW to develope the world's best engines.

 

I think the top line cars with that engine can easily achieve 550-600 hp

 

Wow, 450 ft/lbs starting at 1800rpm? Thats ridiculous.

 

Unrelated to BMW, but is anyone else impressed that a company like Ford is reducing the number of V8s and replacing them with more fuel efficient, yet still potent turbocharged V6s? I am.

 

i find it pretty much how bmw is all over FI now as well. couple years ago i was giving them thumb up about staying NA all the way even for the mighty m-series, but now they are moving to FI for their normal series, that's a bit of boooo from me.

i think the engine will go to the 5,6, and 7 series. i don't think they will go to the m series. the m5 and m6 are already v10. i don't see them going to the turbo v8 if it pushes about the same power. and we also see turbo 6 cylinders setup on the 3 series, so it's pretty natural to see this in the upper series

i don't know, maybe i don't have that much technical background, but i think mb is also doing a super good, if not better, job on FI compared to bmw. their supercharged engines pushes out tons of power, and never forget that bi-turbo v12

 

Yeah, but the Benz FI is on AMG models, and they are all moving back to NA with the 6.2L (with the exception of course of the 6L biturbo that you mentioned, that goes on the "65" AMGs). Only the non-supercharged 5.5L remain on the "junior" models.

As much as I hate Benz for shoddy quality and don't like AMG's recent practice of focusing almost solely on putting bigger and heavier engines in cars to increase performance, I still think I'd rather go with the NA 6.2L than a turbo. Of course, BMW will probably stick with NA on the M like you said.

 

yes, you are right that they are going with NA now, and indeed people say that the NA are more reliable. but still, mb had a very good run with the superchargers while bmw was on NA (i am not saying which one is better). and mb did push out tons more power from the engine compared to the bmw FI

btw, the s600 is not amg and it's still twin turbo and although lame, they did have the c230 which also has a supercharger i think (just for the kick of it, hehe)

 

Twin turbo V8. BMW engineered this factory motor for the enthusiasts. This new motor saves potential owners 25k & up in patch work and headaches. Hartge, Lumma, Hamman & others are at work as we speak to create beasts

 

Kind of like the Hamman Bi-turbo M5. Nice? Hell yes. Necessary? No.

 

The C230 was a supercharged unit, there was also and SLK 230 I believe that was supercharged. The Kompressor badge designates FI MB cars.