BMW Debuts New Turbo I4 In X1

Sometimes progress is slow and steady.  Sometimes, though, it just pops out of nowhere. A good example of this is BMW's latest engine, which has been rumored for a while, and they just released some juicy details on.  Called the N20, it's a 2.0L turbocharged inline four cylinder, and it will be replacing the 3.0L naturally-aspirated I6 in many base model BMW's.  It pulls off a pretty neat trick - faster car, better fuel mileage and emissions figures.  Read on for more details.

The new N20 motor is a 2.0L all-aluminum inline four cylinder that borrows a lot of technology from BMW's TwinPower Turbo engines - namely, the N54 and N55 Turbo straight-sixed that can be found in the 1, 3, 5, Z4, X3, X5, X6, and 7-series models.  It utilizes high-pressure direct fuel injection as well as Valvetronic continuously variable valve timing with the industry-standard DOHC 4-valve heads.  The turbocharger is a twin-scroll (twin entry) turbo like the one used on the newer N55 motor, designed for strong low-end response and minimal turbo lag.

Power output is a mixed bag: the new motor makes 245 horsepower (compared to 258 for the 3.0L), but lots of torque - 258lb-ft (350nM) compared to 228lb-ft (310nM) for the outgoing naturally aspirated engine.  The new engine will find it's home in the small X1 CUV first, and likely the 1, 3, and 5 series as well as the Z4 convertible.

The N20 can be paired with your choice of a 6-speed manual (yes!) or an 8-speed ZF Automatic (no!).  As mentioned earlier, performance is improved over the 3.0L - with the manual, an X1 xDrive 28i (curiously, the name has not changed - much like Merc's AMG -63 models which now have 5.5L turbo V8's) will do the 0-100km/h (62.5mph) sprint in 6.1 seconds, or 6.5 with the automatic.  These times are improvements of 0.7 and 0.3 seconds, respectively, over the 3.0L engine despite the power deficit.  I guess this proves the old time adage that horsepower sells cars, but torque wins races!

Fuel economy is fairly impressive, too.  Average fuel economy for the 4cyl X1 is estimated at 29.8mpg, compared with the 3.0L's 25.4.  Emissions also drop from 221 g/km of CO2 down to 183g/km, which is a pretty significant improvement.  So let's see: faster, less thirsty, better for the environment.  Where's the catch?  Well, besides the fact that most twin-scroll turbo inline 4's sound like angry vacuum cleaners, it's hard to really think of any.  Way to move the game forward, BMW!  You will notice, oddly enough, that while BMW did release pictures of the X1 xDrive 28i itself, they didn't release any of the N20 itself.  Which is odd, considering there's nothing news-worthy about the X1 itself.  I can't wait for them to drop this motor into the 1-series Coupe and sell it with minimal extra equipment - this is probably the closest we'll get to old-school BMW's like the (E30) 318is.  It's all good, if you ask me.