‘We Intend to Keep Going’

If you buy a modern BMW performance car, you want one of two things: A turbocharged inline-six or a powerful V-8. However, in the era of downsizing and electrification, with more stringent emissions regulations looming worldwide, keeping those performance engines alive is no easy task—as other automakers have proven.

But even with a new line of electric vehicles on the way, BMW promises to keep its signature gas engines alive for the next generation of performance cars.

Speaking with Autocar at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, BMW M CEO Frank van Meel confirmed that BMW’s inline-six and V-8 engines would survive the introduction of tougher Euro 7 emissions regulations. Better yet, the two motors will live on without significant hits to performance.

Van Meel explained how:

‘Normally, if you are in high-performance situations, you cool using the fuel. With EU7, that’s impossible, so you need to find different ways of avoiding temperature build-up. The combustion process has to be improved in regards to heat build-up and also the cooling, and those are the challenges. Of course, you can [reduce] performance to avoid this temperature increase, but you don’t want to—that’s where we started. The new balance of performance is that we drive lambda one, but we don’t want to lose performance.’

For BMW, its inline-six and V-8 engines are still hugely important to the DNA of the brand—specifically when it comes to performance. The current M2, M3, and M4 all use variants of BMW’s twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six, while the M5 and XM pair that signature V-8 with a plug-in-hybrid powertrain.

Van Meel didn’t divulge any specifics as to how BMW reworked these engines to comply with new Euro 7 rules, but he did note that the company made some “very interesting” upgrades. More details are likely to be revealed at a later date.

When asked if BMW would ever consider downsizing to smaller three- and four-cylinder engines for its M cars, Van Meel replied: “No… The six-cylinder inline engine is our legacy, and the V-8 has got a long history in racing, so we intend to keep going.”

This isn’t the first time BMW has reiterated its commitment to combustion engines, either.

Just last month, BMW CEO Oliver Zipse said the combustion engine is the brand’s “foundation” and that the company would work to make every one of its engines compliant with new Euro 7 rules, from base three-cylinder units to its most powerful V-8s.