BMW slashes V8 engine production in favor of fours
The new BMW 7-Series has just stepped out from behind the curtain, and it's taken the stage to a house only half full. Demand for BMW's big engines has dropped so low that the house of the roundel says it can make enough 8-bangers to satisfy the world's demand using just one shift for four days.A member of BMW's supervisory board put it plainly: "We are producing the wrong engines here." Even the sixes, the center of BMW's engine constellation, are being taken out of production in Munich to be replaced by those with two fewer cylinders in 2011. When the phase-out is complete, the company will be able to build 560,000 4-cylinders per annum. Care for a BMW 716i, anyone?
[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Alex 9:08AM (9/02/2008)
no manufacturer is immune from high fuel prices and declining demand.
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RG 10:49AM (9/02/2008)
I wonder though if there is more than meets the eye?
How come we are seeing such drastic moves from BMW while we aren't seeing the same level of cutting from Audi, or MB? I see no movement from either of the other companies to cut back the AMG line, or the RS line, etc.
It seems like the sky is falling over at BMW, where everything else is business as usual in Germany.
3seriesisking 2:48PM (9/02/2008)
I'd say you were jumping the gun RG.
It is quite obvious why BMW is doing what they are doing.
Their sales record shows that they aren't having trouble selling cars.
BMW is a company that is quick to react and this is just another instance of that.
The market works by one company watching another company before it makes major moves, especially when it comes to German automakers.
I really wouldn't be surprised to see MB, Audi, etc. to start making moves in the same direction before long....it only makes sense.
Toy Yoda 3:12AM (9/05/2008)
@ 3seriesisking:
"BMW is quick to react." I disagree. If they are so quick to react, then they wouldn't be producing such monstrosities as the X6, or the "M" versions of it and the X5.
Rafael Illan 9:13AM (9/02/2008)
on the bright side, the four banger that we will see in the near are going to be powerful,but a part of me is dying becaise the v8 engine will be once again an option just for the rich.
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mike 9:14AM (9/02/2008)
Did you know that No American or Asian company ever failed to meet CAFE? But BMW and other European companies do not meet it and pay a fine.
Can you image what would happen if GM did not meet environmental standards in Germany? The protests, the riots, the blaming of America, the comparison of Bush to Hitler, and all that.
It's time EPA force BMW and Benz to meet CAFE or pay much higher fines. I think Americans should force EPA and the government to force BMW and Benz to meet CAFE by limiting the number of cars the can sell, that will allow American and Asian companies to capture some of their market. Think about it, Cadillac HAS to offer smaller engines to meet CAFÉ while M5 offers engine of any size the want, and pollute our air. This could be an environmental statement as well as a helping hand for Detroit.
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rsfourever 9:33AM (9/02/2008)
what are you talking about? nobody is forced to meet CAFE. anyone can skip them. All they have to do is pay fines. the government isn't forcing gm to meet cafe, and it isn't forcing anyone else to do it either. MB and BMW just happen to pay the fines for not meeting it...
Russell 9:43AM (9/02/2008)
Germans are not the problem for Detroit. Japanese are the ones you should be worried about, I say tax the hell out of them.
Josh 11:10AM (9/02/2008)
Seriously? Think about what you are saying... Japanese cars that are presumably built better, last longer, and are more appealing to consumers should be blocked by a protective tax to protect the big three who just aren't producing the same quality cars that they used to. I am not a hater of American cars, i just haven't really enjoyed the bland and dated design language they are using now - not to mention the retro crap they are pulling because they cannot come up with something completely original. While Japanese cars may be bland in their own right, they are at least moving forward each generation with a new design language.
Too many companies here trying to rest on their laurels rather than redefine themselves (especially Daimler over in Germany).
More on topic: It is strange to think of a BMW without their iconic I6, i am guessing they are looking into a TTI4 technology? I just cannot imagine them keeping the same performance with the power of a I4... maybe i am wrong though - probably am. Why aren't they looking into a hybrid powertrain or even electric?
why not the LS2LS7? 11:49AM (9/02/2008)
That's not true. As of 1999, GM was the only company that sold cars in the US that had met CAFE fleet in every year since CAFE had begun. Even GM broke their streak soon after that.
Other companies failed to meet it several times, many of them never met it in any year and just paid fines every year.
Josh:
The Japanese do retro too.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_Figaro
3seriesisking 9:19AM (9/02/2008)
A true sign of the times.....
It sucks but if the demand isn't there, BMW isn't the one to blame.
Damn you high gas prices!!
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ik 3:53PM (9/02/2008)
is it really because of high gas prices?
or is it because the 6 cylinder engines now offer such power that you don't really need a V8?
e39 540i -> 280HP
e60 535i -> 326HP
PJ 9:08PM (9/02/2008)
As a point of interest, Fours were traditionally the engine of choice for purist's sports cars, at least in England (where the sports-car die was arguably cast).
icu812ru469 9:32AM (9/02/2008)
716i? The BMW that drives like a Lexus. Nice...
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rsfourever 9:33AM (9/02/2008)
lol. +1
Mobius_1 9:34AM (9/02/2008)
I can't see a 716i, because I see a Hydrogen 7 in its place as the clean 7, for the 716 will be cheap, and that's wrong for a 7
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JEziquiel 9:36AM (9/02/2008)
How does BMW plan on maintaining some of the most notable aspects of the BMW engine experience -- sound, smoothness and response -- going to fours? I love small engines, but alot of the BMW trademark revolves around the smoothness inherent in higher cylinder counts.
On the flip side, does that mean we will finally get a true successor to the E30 M3?
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John Johnson 9:42AM (9/02/2008)
No E30 M3... Not if trends continue. By 2011, cars will weigh 6000 lbs.
Kitko 9:42AM (9/02/2008)
What about 1.4 in a Passat? I'm not kidding. It's on sale in Europe. One of the engines is 1.4L TSI 92 kW (123 hp) (some kind of charging).
Skoda, owned by the VW, makes a Superb, which is a car that's bigger than a Passat, 190.5 inches. With the same engine.
http://www.carbodydesign.com/archive/2008/01/11-skoda-superb/Skoda-Superb-2-lg.jpg
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Papi L-Gee 10:58AM (9/02/2008)
That's cool and all, but what does the Passat have to do with BMW engines?