BMW Presents New Three Cylinder Engine

BMW is bringing in a new 1.5-litre, three-cylinder turbocharger which will come in both, petrol and diesel forms and is expected to be more economical that the N20 four cylinder engines which BMW uses at present. The speculation is that this engine will power the new Mini which is coming next year and also the current rear drive 1 series and 3 series models. The engine is expected to be produced at BMW's Hams Hall plant.

The diesel version is codenamed B37 and the petrol is B38. The petrol engine will be capable of delivering a power output of 40bhp -66bhp per cylinder which will result to various power output versions ranging between 120bhp - 200bhp. Diesel on the other hand will range between 100bhp - 181bhp. The diesel engine is expected to be made on the same production line as the petrol and also expected to share 60% of its architecture with it.The engine gets Valvetronic variable valve timing, a longer stroke than N20, 11.0:1 compression ratio and a single turbo and is built on an alloy block. The engine is likely to first appear in the BMW i8 hybrid supercar. In the hybrid, to help recharge the batter pack, the engine will be equipped with a generator. This is not all, BMW is also planning a 4-cylinder engine which will be similar to the B38 and will be capable of producing a power of more than 200bhp.

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