Recently BMW announced it’s new four-cylinder TwinPower engine, which is set to debut in the new BMW X1 xDrive28i – an engine and model which is yet to be confirmed for South Africa. However, shortly after this announcement, rumours quickly surfaced that BMW was thinking of introducing a four-cylinder engine for the next BMW Z4.
Well it doesn’t take a genius to put two and two together to come up with a reasonable prediction, but BMW has announced that the next BMW Z4 will indeed get a version of that same 2.0-litre TwinPower unit scheduled for debut in the BMW X1 xDrive28i.
In the small SUV, the engine has a specified output of 180 kW and 350 Nm of torque. Whether or not BMW will use a slightly different tune is not officially known, but the company has said the engine will make its way into the BMW Z4 by the end of 2011, or early 2012.
The engine is based on the six-cylinder TwinPower engine also seen in the BMW 135i, BMW 335i, BMW Z4 sDrive35i and the BMW 535i, as well as some other models. The new engine adopts the same twin-scroll turbocharging system as the 35i engine, only it will be a smaller, four-cylinder unit offering superior fuel economy.
In the BMW X1 xDrive28i, BMW has said the engine will present consumption figures of 7.9 L/100km, which will make it one of the most fuel efficient engines per kilowatt per capacity available on the current market. The 2.0-litre TwinPower engine will replace the normally aspirated 3.0-litre BMW Z4 sDrive30i (currently offering 190 kW and 310Nm).
