Spannerhead Dot Com

Motor Trend relays a bit of sleuthing by Bimmerfest involving recent patent filings by BMW. As it turns out, the Bavarian automaker has just applied for patents on a pair of upcoming engines: Two turbocharged V8s and, more significantly, a couple of twin-turbo V6s.

If you know anything about BMW’s relationship with the inline-6 engine configuration, you’ll know the adoption of a V6 would represent a fairly significant lurch away from their legacy. Virtually every other automaker has abandoned the I6 in favor of the more compact V layout for their 6-cylindered powerplants. Mercedes, Nissan, Toyota—you name it; they’ve ditched the I6. Why, then, has BMW persisted with the configuration for so long? In contrast to the more common V6, arranging the cylinders in a row does have some important advantages: Intake and exhaust plumbing is more simple, the valvetrain is much less complex, and perhaps most significantly: The engine is capable of achieving perfect harmonic balance, meaning it runs very smoothly. This puts less stress on its internals and gives the inline-6 a refined feel, an important quality for the engine of a luxury performance car.

And now BMW may be, at long last, introducing a V6. Somehow I doubt it will entirely replace their iconic I6 across the model range, as it did with the other automakers, but it muddies the waters; it dilutes what was previously an uncompromising devotion to the inherent qualities of a technically elegant engine configuration. That said, as with the introduction of FWD cars branded as BMWs, I don’t know if I can blame this entirely on some cynical quest for profit at the expense of the automaker’s legacy. The new EU regulations for cars include rather draconian specifications for pedestrian safety, regulations the European auto industry is striving to adhere to mainly by integrating larger crumple zones into the noses of their designs. The additional “give” needed by the bodywork means the “hard” engine must be pushed back farther in the chassis, putting the comparatively long inline-6 at a major disadvantage. So an attempt to conform to some arbitrary set of top-down restrictions may bear at least some of the blame for the shift. Whatever the reasons, it’ll be a sad day for classic Bimmer-philes when the first V6-engined BMW rolls off the assembly line.