Previous post we have featured the 2JZ inline-6 engine of Toyota. Today we will talk about the innovative BMW heritage inline-6 N54 engine. This is the first turbo engine offered in the US market for a long time. The old M52/M54 in the E46 platform were already a great engine but for the new E90 platform they needed a greater engine.



The E90 debuted the 3 series in the US with the 325i and 330i. Both have the same engine size but with different HP and torque. Differences between these 2 are the intake system, exhaust and the ECU/software. The competitions are offering better and more powerful engines, especially from Infiniti's G35 which has the VQ 3.5 liter V6 engine.


BMW debuted the N54 in late 2006. It is a giant step up. This engine is made from aluminum block and iron lined cylinders. It is also twin turbo with the help from Mitsubishi Industries..hint hint...Lancer Evolution??? BMW chose 2 smaller turbos rather than 1 big turbo. Turbo usually associated with turbo lag. Turbo lag is the time the turbo takes to spin up to speed, to generate enough pressure into the cylinder chamber for combustion. With 2 smaller turbos, running in sequential, the turbo lag is almost eliminated.


N54 won the international engine of the year for 2007 and 2008. Enuff said for a great car and also a great engine.

N54—3.0-liter I6 engine turbocharge
326 hp @ 6,300 rpm
332 lb-ft @ 4,300 rpm
Redline: 7,000 rpm
10.2:1 compression ratio
Aluminum engine block with iron lined cylinder
Valvetronic
0-60 in 5.6 sec Read more!

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The Toyota 2JZ engine series is the one of three inline 6 that I admire a lot. Others are the BMW I6 and the Skyline RB series. Most of these engines are replaced by their more efficient V6 but the BMW I6 is still relevant and has moved to higher fuel efficiency and also horse power.


I owned a 2JZ-GE engine before. It comes in the form of a GS300. It has 220 Hp and 220 ft-lb. It is very well balance, quiet and has tremendous power although the numbers does not show it. Other Toyota/Lexus vehicles that shares this engine are the Toyota Altezza/Lexus IS300, Toyota Soarer/Lexus SC300 and many others.



The 2JZ-GTE is also the powerplant for one of my favorite car. It is the Toyota Supra Turbo. It is a more powerful version and comes with a Twin Turbo configuration. This engine pushes the car to 320 Hp and 315 ft-lb.

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This is a new technology that Mercedes Benz and GM developing. The HCCI (Homogenous Charge Compression Ignition) runs like a diesel engine concept but uses normal gasoline. It does not rattle or hum like a diesel engine, it does not exhaust black soot but inherits the gas mileage. Too good to be true. Well MB has already put it into one of their amazing concept vehicle. It is called the Mercedes Benz F 700. It was first shown in the 2007 Frankfurt Auto Show.

This MB has a HCCI engine called DiesOtto. "Dies" for Rudolf Diesel and "Otto" for Nikolaus Otto. Rudolf is the inventor of the diesel engine and Nikolaus is the inventor of the 4 stroke engine cycle. Not to confuse with a 4 cyclinder engine. The way HCCI works is to use the spark ignition of a gasoline engine to start up and then as it progresses, it will switch to the diesel concept of auto ignition under partial load. Auto ignition under partial load is a way diesel engine ignite the gas air mixture under a tremendous pressure until this mixture combust. This does not requires spark plug to ignite the mixture. But auto ignition under partial load causes vibration and this is why diesel engine rattle and hums differently than a conventional gasoline engine.

The MB F 700 uses a 2 stage turbo charge HCCI 1.8 liter inline 4 engine. The F 700 is also equip with a 20 hp electric motor to propel the car from dead stop. This combination of HCCI and the electric motor give the F 700 a total of 258 hp and 295 lb-ft. It will propel this 3748 lb of machine from 0-60 mph in 7.5 seconds with top speed 120 mph (electronically limiter). The gas mileage of this awesome drive system returns a whopping 44 mpg. It also emits very little CO2 and was able to pass the Euro testing.

I hope this new development will soon trickle down to cheaper models of vehicles. Amazing engine .....everything that we dreamt of. I will keep track of this engine development.



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