The overwhelming automotive trend these days is towards downsizing. Downsized engine capacity, downsized consumption and downsized cost, but with an added a caveat. This is achieved by turbocharging smaller capacity engines and achieving the same power and torque as before, just with less displacement. All petrol heads agree, as efficient as that is, in doing so some of the ‘magic’ of internal combustion is lost along the way.
Which is why we’re not surprised when BMW M GmbH boss Friedrich Nitschke says with only six months left of production, the current generation BMW M3 (E90) is all sold out. Much like the current, turbocharged, M5 which replaced the normally aspirated 5.0-litre V10, the next BMW M3 will be a six-cylinder turbocharged machine. It will also be the first turbocharged M3.
Furthermore, Nitschke also mentioned that any future engines fitted to M-badged cars will be more closely related to the engines of core BMW models, but will be modified “for the specific needs of M customers.”
But never fear that BMW will betray the M3 any further because Nitschke has downplayed the possibility of all-wheel drive variants because he says they would be too much of a compromise because of the added weight and loss of steering precision. Nitschke sounded optimistic about offering a high-performance three-cylinder engine in the future. An engine as lightweight as a three cylinder could provide a massive performance boost in weight savings alone.
As he explained, “The three-cylinder is an attractive engine. It is possible to reach around 137- 149 kW per litre in a forced-induction three-cylinder and we have 1.5 litres of displacement.” This means a future M-tuned three-cylinder engine could have an output in excess of 231 kW.
We think a 1.5-litre, three-cylinder, M-power engine does sound a little daft at the moment, and we certainly don’t think consumers are ready for that one just yet, but with advances in downsized engine technology gaining pace, you never know, 1.5-litres may be seen as massive in the not to distant future.
