Miramas, France – BMW showed off the tangible results of the new 500cc combustion chamber engine family announced during Innovation Day 2012. Now in production the first of the new engines are to be found in MINIs and soon BMWs.
The beauty of the common combustion chamber is that the a family of engines, 3, 4, and 6 cylinders, utilize a set of common components, 60% common within diesel and petrol iterations. And a 40% commonality shared by the diesel and petrol variants.
The commonality extends to shared production processes and production line. But even more important is the common software core required for mapping ignition and fuel burns. This is a very efficient way of handling an expensive resource, programming skills.
In addition to showing examples of 3 and 4 cylinder diesel and petrol variants of the new engine family, BMW displayed and innovated water jacketed exhaust manifold for a 3 cylinder motor. This will aid in thermal management of the engine.
Also acoustic and thermal jacketing was shown for the engines. By blanketing the engine they help maintain an appropriate temperature range. They also reduce the need for additional acoustical deadening material. Managing noise directly at the source rather than managing the noise (and resonances) later saves weight and adds to the efficiency of the vehicle.
The new engine family will be found throughout the BMW model range in the near future.
