[mkoesel]

For now I am keeping this mainly (with some exceptions) to North American products for the sake of simplicity. I will expand to worldwide products if people wish to contribute the needed data/specs.

N73 V12: Dead
--------------
Replaced by: N74 TwinPower V12
Last seen: E65 760i, E66 760Li
Still used in non BMW brand products: Rolls Royce Phantom (@ 6.75L)

N62 V8: Dead
-------------
Replaced by: N63 TwinPower V8 and N54/N55 TwinPower I6
Last seen:
4.8L: E60/E61 550i, E63/E64 650i, E65 750i, E66 750Li, E70 X5 xDrive48i
4.0L: E60/E61 540i, E65 740i, E66 740Li
Still used in non BMW brand products: Morgan Aero 8 and Wiesmann MF4, both rumored to switch to N63 V8 soon.

N52 I6: Still in use
------------------
Replaced by: "N20" TwinPower I4
Still seen in:
3.0L: E8x 128i, E9x 328i, F10/F11 528i, F25 X3 xDrive28i, E89 Z4 sDrive30i
2.5L: ?
Last seen in: E84 X1 xDrive28i
Still used in non BMW brand products: ?

S85 V10: Dead
--------------
Replaced by: S63 TwinPower V8
Last seen in: E60/E61 M5, E63/E64 M6
Still used in non BMW products: none

S65 V8: Still in use
------------------
Replaced by: "S55" I6
Still seen in: E9x M3
Still used in non BMW products: Wiesmann MF4-S

For fun, which BMW do you think will be the last to use a naturally aspirated engine (for North America)? At this point it looks like it will probably be an E92/E93 M3 or 328i, or a E82/E88 128i.

[mkoesel]

Current rumors:

E89 Z4 sDrive30i to switch to TwinPower I4 in September 2011
F10/F11 528i to switch to TwinPower I4 in September 2011
E90/E91 3 series and M3 to end production late 2011 or early 2012
E92/E93 3 series and M3 to end production sometime in 2012
E81/E87 1 series to end production by September 2011
E82/E88 1 series to end production in ???
F25 X3 xDrive28i to switch to TwinPower I4 in ????

[SCOTT26]

E89 Z4 sDrive30i to switch to TwinPower I4 in September 2011-Yes
F10/F11 528i to switch to TwinPower I4 in September 2011 -Yes
E90/E91 3 series and M3 to end production late 2011 or early 2012-yes
E92/E93 3 series and M3 to end production sometime in 2012-Yes 4th qtr.
E81/E87 1 series to end production by September 2011 - August . new 1er launched after Geneva - will herald complete petrol turbo-charged engine line up. Filming begins next week - originally set for Australia but moving to New Zealand and then Cape Town and Swakopmund S.A.
E82/E88 1 series to end production in ??? - 1st qtr 2012.
F25 X3 xDrive28i to switch to TwinPower I4 in ???? - 4th qtr 2011.

[kyleb350]

Tell me more about this S55...

[Crimson92]

i need to snatch up my s65 before they go bye bye

[mkoesel]

Thanks for clearing those dates up, SCOTT.

It looks like the final naturally aspirated BMW (at least for the US) will indeed be an E92/E93 M3 or 328i. I sort of hope they make it an M3, even though it seems more likely the 3 series will be in production a little longer. But to me it would be fitting to give this honor to the M3.

[mkoesel]

By the way Scott, will the F20 all turbo engine lineup include the 1.6L turbo I4 and the oft-rumored 1.5L(?) turbo I3 from launch? Or are those coming later?

[ianbiz]

So we are all going to be driving cars the used to have a life expectancy till 300k+ miles now we will be lucky to see 150k miles out of a car.

Time to get a GT3 or Z06.

[BMW269]

I think there will be two other NA engine from 2014: M3 F32 with S66 and Z10 wiht S86. If not DIE.

[SteVTEC]

[Elsabor67]

I don't know about BMW axing the current M3 around 2012. They are getting ready to jump into DTM in 2012 with the same model.

[aajami]

Originally Posted by Levi

I think there will be two other NA engine from 2014: M3 F32 with S66 and Z10 wiht S86. If not DIE.

Not this again.

Come on, Levi. "Think" and "pray" are two different things entirely. Every indication points to BMW transitioning to a complete FI lineup. What makes you think they'll spend millions of dollars developing two entirely new low-volume high-performance NA engines? Everything we've been told and have seen in the last 5 years have pointed to BMW completely abandoning NA technology.

[mkoesel]

Originally Posted by kyleb350

Tell me more about this S55...

It's my (and others) working name for the next M3 engine. No details are known officially, but BMW higher ups have said it will be a turbo six of some kind. Current prevailing belief is a 3L multi-turbo engine with 450hp+.

Originally Posted by aajami

Not this again.

+1

There seems to be a small but vocal European contingent that refuse to accept reality.

[BMW269]

Originally Posted by aajami

What makes you think they'll spend millions of dollars developing two entirely new low-volume high-performance NA engines?

It costs more to build a high reving turbo engine like the McLaren MP4-12C's V8, than to add direct injection to the S65 and S85 that were built from zero for only one generation and two cars, E9X and E6X. Why not continue and profit from it? You could even make a 90° V12 from it.


Never though BMW would be the first among Mercedes and Audi to not offer even one single NA engine. Mercedes will still have the SLK AMG (NA 5.5l V8) and the SLS AMG (NA 6.3l V8) and Audi will still have the R8 (NA 4.2l V8 and NA 5.2l V10), the RS5 and maybe even the next RS4 (NA 4.2l V8) and the A8 W12 (NA 6.2l W12).

[aajami]

Originally Posted by Levi

It costs more to build a high reving turbo engine like the McLaren MP4-12C's V8, than to add direct injection to the S65 and S85 that were built from zero for only one generation and two cars, E9X and E6X. Why not continue and profit from it? You could even make a 90° V12 from it.


Never though BMW would be the first among Mercedes and Audi to not offer even one single NA engine. Mercedes will still have the SLK AMG (NA 5.5l V8) and the SLS AMG (NA 6.3l V8) and Audi will still have the R8 (NA 4.2l V8 and NA 5.2l V10), the RS5 and maybe even the next RS4 (NA 4.2l V8) and the A8 W12 (NA 6.2l W12).

Regarding the NA engines that you listed from MB and Audi, those are all legacy engines that are either on their way out (6.3L V8 from MB, 4.2L V8 from Audi) or are NA versions of existing FI engines (5.5L V8 from MB, 6.2L W12 from Audi/VW).

Don't get me wrong, I'll be the first person in line to buy the F32 M3 if it has an NA engine. I just think that's a pipe dream at this point.

By the way, when did you move to Italy? Weren't you living in France not too long ago?

[BMW269]

Originally Posted by aajami

By the way, when did you move to Italy? Weren't you living in France not too long ago?

Yes I did. I moved to Italy in September. I don't know if I'll go back to France. But if I can get to BMW, I am for sure going back to Germany.

[DavidBMWofMiss]

I like turbocharging and BMW does it just about as well as anybody, but theres something about a naturally aspirated engine. To keep up with the competitions horsepower numbers and limit fuel usage it's basically a forced decision