Quote:
Originally Posted by cstavaru
What a mess...they launch the Power Kit months before the targeted engine will be replaced. Or is it that the N54 will remain into production alongside N55 for a reasonably long time in 1 and 3-series ? Maybe the successor of N54 will not be N55 but another twin-turbo ?
My thinking about the cost reasons exactly. There is no way a single-turbo engine has the same response (and aftermarket tunability due to the lack of valevetronic) as the twin-turbo, so that's why the twin-turbo will remain in the "enthusiast" series (1-series and maybe 3-series).
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The 1 will keep it for this life cycle (3 not stated specifically to me but I would imagine so).
The N54 and N55 will co-exist for sometime as the N54 is not leaving soon in current models but newer refreshes (not the 3) and new models will see the N55.
The N55 has a dual scroll turbo and some nifty plumbing that actually increases the response. N55 also has valvetronic and some other features that I can't discuss at this time.
In the end of the day the N55 will provide almost identical performance, save weight, decrease emissions, increase longevity and decrease cost per unit.
The N54 while it is and will be a great motor it was never going to be a long term solution and was rather a stopgap that ended up being an overwhelming success.
There will not be a twin turbo to replace the N54- a dual scroll single turbo is all that is needed to replicate that level of performance. Moving forward the BMW Group will use dual scroll (Twin Power in the EU) to emulate two turbos, and they have great success with this. I just drove the X5 ///M after my experience in the X6 ///M a few months ago- all I can say is that they have this turbo stuff down to a science and it is amazing. In the ///M motors they use 2 dual scrolls to emulate 4 turbos- great response, power and get the same MPG as the ///M3 with more power and a lot more weight.
-M