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Sedans BMW 7-Series BMW History and Engine Technology
59 messages, Last post on Dec 15, 2008 at 9:47 AM
You are in the BMW 7-Series Forum. Your Hosts are pat & karens
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Replying to: blueguydotcom (Mar 24, 2007 12:35 pm)  Meant to say I6... not V6. I knew that. I can see the 2.5 being OK for a 2800 lb car, but on a 3,000lb + car it just doesn't say zoom zoom or anything to me. Honda has been making 200+ horses from their V6's for a long LONG time now. |
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Replying to: fedlawman (Mar 23, 2007 7:38 pm) Club racings are divided into categories. Cars only race against other cars with comparable performance. If mixed categories are in the same race, higher performance cars have to carry a handicap. In theory club racing is about competition among drivers, not cars.
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Replying to: fedlawman (Mar 23, 2007 8:03 pm) That's the point I was making. BMW never switched from I-6 to V6 like almost every other major manufacturer has done for packaging reason. Using an iron block I-6 that weighs more than an aluminum V8 only makes sense in terms of R&D cost savings (it takes a lot of money to design and build a new engine from grounds up; it took MB more than half a decade to make the switch from I-6 to V6). That in my humble opinion is short-sighted.
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Replying to: shipo (Mar 24, 2007 12:17 pm)
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Replying to: brightness04 (Mar 25, 2007 9:56 am) As for why BMWs continued use of the naturally perfectly balanced I6 as opposed to selling out and moving to the more ubiqutous V6; one word, smoothness. In their favor, V6 engines offer packaging advantages, however, even with split crank throws and balance shafts up the ying-yang, they simply ain't as smooth. In my humble opinion it is very precient that BMW is still using the I6. Best Regards, Shipo |
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Replying to: brightness04 (Mar 25, 2007 10:07 am) Nope. The only I6 that BMW is still building that has any lineage to the older baby I6s is the aluminum blocked, steel sleeved N54 in the 335i and the 535i. The magnesium/aluminum/silicone composite blocked N52 that is also currently being built for the 328i and the 528i is that "All-New" design you spoke of earlier. Best Regards, Shipo |
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Replying to: brightness04 (Mar 25, 2007 9:55 am) Exactly right. According to the SCCA, cars with comparable performance in the "B Stock" category include the 4-cylinder E30 M3 (trailing arm suspension and all), and the following more sophisticated/modern sports cars: 6-cylinder E36 M3, 6-cylinder E46 330i w/ZHP, Honda S2000, G35 Coupe, Porsche 911, 944 (16v and turbo), and Boxster - to name a few. (BTW, I can confirm from personal experience that my E30 M3 is just as quick around a race track as a Honda S2000 and E36 M3.) C Stock consists of the E30 trailing arm equipped Z3 1.9L going up against the IRS equipped 1.8L Miata. Interesting note - the E30 318is (with M42) is classified higher than the E36 318is with the same engine (G Stock and H Stock respectively). Obviously, BMW did something right with the E30 suspension to make it so competitive against cars with "more sophisticated" suspensions.
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Replying to: shipo (Mar 25, 2007 11:21 am) IMO, Toyota made a mistake in not developing an update to their I6. Even with its weight and power issues, the Supra's old iron block 3.0L is a more satisfying plant to operate than the 3.5L V6. Yet one more reason not to purchase the G2 IS... |
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Replying to: shipo (Mar 25, 2007 11:21 am) Do you remember the current M3? E46 M3 3.2L has an iron block for compactness. In other words, an aluminum I-6 would be too long to fit in the car. As to smoothness, you'd be hard pressed to find fault in the Acura 3.5 or the Toyota 3.5 in terms of their smoothness.
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Replying to: fedlawman (Mar 25, 2007 12:10 pm) The thing is, most performance oriented ELLPS, or even V6 family sedans, have more than 240hp nowadays.
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