According to Autocar, BMW’s M sports cars will continue to retain their V-8 and inline-six engines for the foreseeable future. Frank van Meel, head of BMW’s M division, told the UK publication that the engines comply with the upcoming Euro 7 emissions regulations set to take effect next year. Customers don’t need to worry about a Mercedes-AMG C63-style change happening any time soon, since Van Meel was against the M5 car getting a four-cylinder engine. More stringent rules regarding pollution, especially in Europe, are putting the traditional engine setups found in many classic sports cars at risk. For instance, the Mercedes-AMG C63 used to have a powerful V-8 engine, but its most recent version features a four-cylinder plug-in hybrid engine, which has caused considerable controversy. Autocar reports that BMW doesn’t intend to reduce the size of its engines and will continue to use the V-8 and inline-six engines it currently employs for some time. Autocar spoke with Frank van Meel, president of BMW’s M Performance business, earlier this month at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. He stated that the existing V-8 and inline-six engines used by the company will be compliant with the upcoming Euro 7 emissions standards. The Euro 7 standards were originally scheduled to start this summer, but they won’t be implemented until November 2026. Typically, every set of rules remains effective for four to six years. Stronger European emission rules may affect what is offered in the US, especially from a European company like BMW, even if they don’t have a direct effect on American drivers. Therefore, it is comforting to know that vehicles like the BMW M3 and M5 will retain their V-8 and inline-six engine configurations. Van Meel says that even better, the engines meet the new requirements without losing any speed. Instead of limiting the number of particles each vehicle can produce, the Euro 7 rules require that emissions levels be tested under a wider range of stricter conditions. This is designed to make the tests more realistic, simulating actual driving conditions. Additionally, the cars must meet the standards for ten years or 124,000 miles, which is twice the current requirement. Van Meel highlighted in the Autocar report that the main obstacle in complying with Euro 7 regulations is effectively managing engine cooling. The new rules place more emphasis on “Lambda 1,” which represents the optimal air-to-fuel ratio for combustion. Most of the time, you use the fuel to cool down when you’re in high-performance mode. That’s not possible with EU7, so you need to find other ways to keep the temperature from rising, Van Meet said. “Of course you can [reduce] performance to avoid this temperature increase, but you don’t want to—that’s where we started.” Van Meel also stated that BMW has a long history of utilizing the V-8 and inline-six engines in its performance cars and plans to continue doing so. However, he did not specify how the company designed its engines to maintain high performance while still meeting emissions standards. When asked if they would switch to engines with fewer cylinders, Van Meel said, “I couldn’t imagine putting a four-cylinder in an M5.” BMW engines currently have six or eight cylinders, but further blending is possible in the next few years.
