BMW's New Diesel Engine Has Four Friggin' Turbos
Diesel engines may be under a lot of scrutiny right now thanks to the whole VW thing, but that doesn’t mean innovation stops. Only a few weeks ago Audi revealed its 4.0-litre V8 TDI SQ7 with electric compressor technology, and now BMW has released a similarly punchy 3.0-litre oil-burner.
It’s a replacement for the old triple-turbocharged unit (pictured above), only this time BMW has upped the ante and added a fourth turbocharger. Yep, quad-turbocharged - not something you’ll see terribly often outside of a Bugatti Veyron.
Details are still fairly thin on the ground, but according to Bimmerpost, we’re looking at 389bhp and 561lb ft of torque. It could be good for more twist than that, but apparently the ZF eight-speed is the limiting factor here: it’s simply not able to take any more torque.
The old triple-turbo ‘N57S’ unit had a small blower for low revs, a larger turbocharger that kicked in at the mid-range, and another smaller one for higher engine speeds. What the new engine (designated B57) does is replace the larger turbocharger with a pair of smaller units, giving a quartet of little turbos. As well as upping power the new quad-turbo system is responsible for a five per cent drop in fuel consumption.
The engine will first appear in the BMW 750d xDrive, where it’ll propel you from 0-60mph in just 4.5 seconds. Although we’re holding out hope for the engine to appear in a successor to the M550d…
Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.
Comments
yo dawg i heard you liked turbos ?
so how about we use turbos to boost your other turbos
Yes, the engine will be found in the upcoming m550d and X5/X6 M50d.
Yo dawg we heard you liked turbos
Oh, and when volvo and polestar announces a quad turbo 4 pot that makes roughly the same amount of power, it’s nothing…
It’s ct. and this is a bmw. What do you expect 😂
This is a diesel though
Does that mean it will make the sutututu 4 times everytime you stop accelerating, sut sut sut sutututu
Diesel engines dont have blowoff valves… They have no throttle so they dont need it:)
Bugatti in a few years be like: New engine has 8 turbos.
I still dont understant why car companies use lots of turbo on diesel emgines. I just completed my truck mechanic course, and ALL of the heavy engines (8+ liters displacement) use VGT, only 1 bigass turbine but with a vane that controls backpressure.
I know truck are governed to 2100rpm and cars go to 5000 i. Diesel, but wouldnt 2 VGT turbos be much simpler than 4 turbos? Also less cotsly.
it’s because variable vane technology is expensive and takes up a lot more space. it’s also not as fuel efficient as it is to use scroll turbo setups. variable vane tech also makes the air hotter requiring a larger intercooler, space is something trucks have whereas average cars don’t. I’m not a diesel tech so I don’t know a lot for sure but I work at a trucking company and I’m am army mechanic so general knowledge and what I’ve read is all I can say
Lol
Taking rolling coal to a whole new level.
Needs more turbos.