When the E46 came out, there was the 323 and 328 (later badged appropriately as the 325 and 328). In around 2001 (?) the engine displacement increased to 3L and we had the 330 (and of course the 325 still). Then in 2004 (?) they added the ZHP and now we have Valvetronic.
Where do they go next? Do you think we will see a further increase in displacement to say 3.2 or 3.3L sometime during the E90 model run? What else will they likely do to increase HP over the coming years?
- VR
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| Reply » E90 Engine ultimately to 3.2L or what? |
The 323 was never rebadged to a 325. The 'wrong' name wasn't carried over with the engine change, and the 330 actually came 3 months BEFORE the 325 appeared.
Anyhow...
Looking at the N52, it doesn't look like there is a whole lot of room for an overbore, but I'm sure there's room for another 10-15% increase in displacement from a bore/stroke increase. But all indications point to a possibility of forced induction before that (see the other thread about this).
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| Reply » E90 Engine ultimately to 3.2L or what? |
Quote: Every legitimate source I've heard/read has refered to this engine as the N52. But Road & Track (I believe it was) recently refered to it as the R6. Were they smoking crack as usual, or is this the internal, super-cool, 'I'm-such-a-BMW-fanatic' nomenclature?
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| Reply » E90 Engine ultimately to 3.2L or what? |
Quote: | Every legitimate source I've heard/read has refered to this engine as the N52. But Road & Track (I believe it was) recently refered to it as the R6. Were they smoking crack as usual, or is this the internal, super-cool, 'I'm-such-a-BMW-fanatic' nomenclature? | I don't understand why its called the N52 and not the N54?
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| Reply » E90 Engine ultimately to 3.2L or what? |
Quote: | Every legitimate source I've heard/read has refered to this engine as the N52. But Road & Track (I believe it was) recently refered to it as the R6. Were they smoking crack as usual, or is this the internal, super-cool, 'I'm-such-a-BMW-fanatic' nomenclature? |
'R6' was the designation used early on when referring to the engine. I read that the 'R' means something in German (inline?  ) but naturally it would get a normal model number. N is for all valvetronics, 5 is for 6cyls (since the M50) and I guess they start with 2 these days (N42, N62).
I thought it would be a N54 or N56 since there are M engines with those numbers, but I guess it makes sense to start over, then thay have room for more numbers (and they can't use odd numbers because those are diesels).
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| Reply » E90 Engine ultimately to 3.2L or what? |
Quote: | Looking at the N52, it doesn't look like there is a whole lot of room for an overbore, but I'm sure there's room for another 10-15% increase in displacement from a bore/stroke increase. But all indications point to a possibility of forced induction before that (see the other thread about this). | Two follow-on questions from above...
A) What about using some of the E46 M3 tricks on the E90 engine?
B) Forced induction sounds very "un" BMW... Don't you agree? Have they ever had a forced induction factory production vehicle?
Finally, does anyone think that BMW might ultimately go with a V6 design to allow higher displacement in a more compact design? (i.e. effectively cut 2 or 6 cylinders off their V8 of V12 engine designs?)
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E90 Engine ultimately to 3.2L or what?