Automobile reporting BMW to drop N52 6 cylinder in Z4 in favor of turbo 4 cylinder

Not been a big fan what BMW is doing as of late. But I like this move of replacing the na 6, with a turbo 4.

Audi has always drawn a big modding crowd with their turbo 4-cylinders.

Originally Posted by M3_WC

Audi has always drawn a big modding crowd with their turbo 4-cylinders.

Very true, I'm salivating at that prospect

Originally Posted by Sticky

... Not much of a surprise to us, we know bimmer boost is the future. ...

http://www.bimmerboost.com/images/im...011/01/583.jpg

Did you catch this?


Cheers.

Originally Posted by ersin

Did you catch this?

It was intentional

200hp? I would think they would need to at least match the power of the N52 currently right?

Originally Posted by JonMartin

200hp? I would think they would need to at least match the power of the N52 currently right?

Nope, no longer an HP game.

They can offer BMW performance pack versions with more HP to match it or something and charge extra for that, would not surprise me.

the turbo parts look terrible imo...not that it really matters but that's what pops to mind!

Originally Posted by black bnr32

the turbo parts look terrible imo...not that it really matters but that's what pops to mind!

That pic is of the mini motor, only BMW turbo 4 cylinder I had to go with since we have nothing on this mystery motor.

Not a fan with the price increase of the Z4 now. Want a loaded N54 Z4, it will cost you 65K...that's a fully loaded M3.

^ Agreed, I think the Z4 is a bit overpriced. I think this motor could be interesting, will be intriguing to see what tuners can do with it.

Turbo is tiny on this engine. Not that I'm looking for a huge stock turbo. But this means that the effective limit of tuned power output could be in the 300 hp range, 350 with meth and mods which puts it at N54 stock tuned territory.

Not bad for folks who get the '128i' or whatever this thing goes in, compared to today, the 128 folks cant really pick up power with a tune (12 hp at most?). This will be a fun little car for sure, expect to see tunes out early for this $#@!.

Does the Z4 even handle any better or weigh less than the 1 series? What is it's purpose? They are convertible only, right?

Originally Posted by DBFIU

Not bad for folks who get the '128i' or whatever this thing goes in, compared to today, the 128 folks cant really pick up power with a tune (12 hp at most?). This will be a fun little car for sure, expect to see tunes out early for this $#@!.

It will open up tuning to all the kids who couldn't convince their parents to spring for the 335.

Originally Posted by SlicktopTTZ

Does the Z4 even handle any better or weigh less than the 1 series? What is it's purpose? They are convertible only, right?

It is a roadster, that is the purpose.

So wait, BMW is replacing the base NA 6 @255 HP with a T4 @ 200HP?
My issue with this is, the T4 will produce 200HP at max boost, which means that low end torque BEFORE the turbo kicks in will probably be weak...not like what an NA 6 can produce

And even if you tune it up to 300HP, then it only matches the 35 NA6 @ 300HP.

So in every way, this is a step backwards in performance (unless you mod).
Things that make you go Hmmmm...

Originally Posted by RLSinCO

So wait, BMW is replacing the base NA 6 @255 HP with a T4 @ 200HP?
My issue with this is, the T4 will produce 200HP at max boost, which means that low end torque BEFORE the turbo kicks in will probably be weak...not like what an NA 6 can produce

And even if you tune it up to 300HP, then it only matches the 35 NA6 @ 300HP.

So in every way, this is a step backwards in performance (unless you mod).
Things that make you go Hmmmm...

It is a step forward in cost and MPG from their point of view.

They could pump out more than 200 hp from it and the 2.0t does a great job with spool for example. Let's see the displacement and specs of this turbo 4 first. It might be really interesting and a fun motor to mod.

Originally Posted by RLSinCO

So wait, BMW is replacing the base NA 6 @255 HP with a T4 @ 200HP?
My issue with this is, the T4 will produce 200HP at max boost, which means that low end torque BEFORE the turbo kicks in will probably be weak...not like what an NA 6 can produce

And even if you tune it up to 300HP, then it only matches the 35 NA6 @ 300HP.

So in every way, this is a step backwards in performance (unless you mod).
Things that make you go Hmmmm...

It's probably the opposite of what you are saying. The turbo is tiny and kicks in so early that it has lots of low end torque, but it chokes up top. So you get good peak torque numbers, and crappy peak horsepower numbers even though it spins to a likely 7000RPM.

Something like 230ft-lbs 200hp. The N54 illustrates my point.

Or, now that I re-read, are you saying that you hate any sort of turbo lag whatsoever, even if it is minimal? Because of course, turbo systems will reach peak torque during WOT much differently than NA.

The benefit is it will be setup for boost ECU and hardware wise, so upgrades are as easy as bolting on parts and running a piggy or flash.

We will see much more aftermarket gains than with the NA I6.

Originally Posted by SlicktopTTZ

It's probably the opposite of what you are saying. The turbo is tiny and kicks in so early that it has lots of low end torque, but it chokes up top. So you get good peak torque numbers, and crappy peak horsepower numbers even though it spins to a likely 7000RPM.

A good point and likely the case, but we will see.

Originally Posted by SlicktopTTZ

It's probably the opposite of what you are saying. The turbo is tiny and kicks in so early that it has lots of low end torque, but it chokes up top. So you get good peak torque numbers, and crappy peak horsepower numbers even though it spins to a likely 7000RPM.


We will see much more aftermarket gains than with the NA I6.

I guess we will have to see once we get official specs on the motor. Thanks for the perspective on the tiny turbo, I can see where it would spool up much faster to help with low end torque, but my experience with a T4 (I owned an Audi A4 1.8T Quattro) was the "off the line" experience. No matter how small a turbo is, it is tough to overcome lack of torque from a standstill. That initial get up and go was so weak on the Audi that I grew to literally hate that car. Once you were going, pickup was no issue. Oh, I should mention that the Audi was AT transmission, which of course greatly exacerbates the problem...

For example, let's say you are in the left turning lane, looking to make a left turn through oncoming traffic. Man, I had to wait for a huge gap (not that I am reckless and like to squirt through the tiniest gap) but there was more than one occassion where I would initiate the left turn, only to say "Crap I need to get going here"!!!

And, I certainly agree: It will be much easier for aftermarket gains...I wonder if this isn't becomming a consumer trend: you buy something with the manufacturer's (and yours) intent to increase performance (I know it has been this way for cars for a long time)? Take CPUs on computers for instance - both Intel and AMD sell chips fully expecting them to be overclocked...