BMW question

Cheaper to make 1x 2.0l engine and detune it to provide a 318i and keep it standard for the 320i than to make a 1.8l and a 2.0l engine.

Developing an engine costs so much money.

The same way the 2.0l petrol engine used by the VAG group provides the Golf GTI, Audi S3, Golf 2.0 TFSI and many other cars all with different power outputs.
 
The BMW naming convention broke a while back. Check the diesel models for more incongruity.
 
Mud said:
The BMW naming convention broke a while back. Check the diesel models for more incongruity.
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I don't think it's suppose to relate to engine size anymore, maybe more down to what size engine performance it would have related to.

Eg. the 335i and 335d are obviously turbocharged (twin in some cases) 3.0l engines but in the past the x35i hasn't been a 3.0l engine.

It's a way to rank the engines down the model line, at least that is how I take it.

x18i is going to be a bit slower than a x20i, where as the x25i will be quite a bit faster than the x18i and x20i.

x30i is pretty powerful and the x35i is just that step up.
 
Peerzy said:
I don't think it's suppose to relate to engine size anymore, maybe more down to what size engine performance it would have related to.

Eg. the 335i and 335d are obviously turbocharged (twin in some cases) 3.0l engines but in the past the x35i hasn't been a 3.0l engine.

It's a way to rank the engines down the model line, at least that is how I take it.

x18i is going to be a bit slower than a x20i, where as the x25i will be quite a bit faster than the x18i and x20i.

x30i is pretty powerful and the x35i is just that step up.
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Sounds like the PR rating system Athlon used once clock speeds stopped being a decent criteria for CPU comparison. The 'i' seems redundant nowadays unless they've reassigned that too.
 
Mud said:
Sounds like the PR rating system Athlon used once clock speeds stopped being a decent criteria for CPU comparison. The 'i' seems redundant nowadays unless they've reassigned that too.
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I was going to use that exact example. I know sod all about CPUs but about 5 years ago the Athlon XP2500 or whatever it was called wasn't 2500MHz at all, but that is just how it rated/compared to the Intel at the time.

i = petrol
d = diesel
 
Producing an engine in a different state of tune is not that much more expensive than producing the maps for the same engine but with a different crank and rods fitted. Which is what every manufacturer including BMW do to make the different displacements.

The E39 530i and 525i are nearly identical, key differences being the crankshaft, diff ratio and boot badge.
http://www.carfolio.com/specifications/models/car/?car=96569
http://www.carfolio.com/specifications/models/car/?car=104159

Best I can tell the naming convention moved from engine displacement in CCs over 100, to roughly were a n/a would lie in the range without the use of different technology or a tactical call to use a bigger engine and conservative tune for comfort.

Has the 318 and 320 petrol ever shared the same displacement in the same model?
 
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This isn't a recent development in BMW model names not actually relating to the engine size, although they do it more now.
 
Depends on what generation you're talking about. LCI E60 525i's are 3.0 for example, but the E39 525i was a 2.5.
 
Wicksta said:
This isn't a recent development in BMW model names not actually relating to the engine size, although they do it more now.
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Nah, they've been doing it for a while. Two examples that spring to mind

e28 525e - 2.7
e21 and e30 316 - 1.8.

So they've been confusing people with badges for the best part of 30 years!
 
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