With seven awards for four engines, BMW once again emerges as the most successful brand from the “International Engine of the Year Awards 2007”, the world’s most important engine competition. For the third time in a row, the Awards jury – consisting of 62 high-ranking international automobile journalists from 30 countries including Australia – awarded the principal prize, the highly sought-after “International Engine of the Year” to the Bavarian automobile manufacturer.
This year the trophy goes to the new BMW 3.0 litre Twin Turbo petrol engine, now fitted in all body variations of the successful BMW 3 Series. The world’s first in-line 6-cylinder engine with Twin Turbo technology also came out top in two other categories, winning the “Best New Engine of the Year 2007” and the 2.5 – 3.0 litre capacity class.
In addition to the engine’s enormous pulling power, the jury was particularly impressed by the high efficiency of the 225 kW power unit. With 9.5 litres per 100 kilometres in the BMW 335i Coupé, the average fuel consumption level based on the EU norm is extremely moderate for this performance class. The Twin Turbo achieves this mainly due to BMW High Precision Injection, the first jet-guided direct injection system ever to be produced in high-volume production. It enables a particularly precise metering of the air-fuel mixture.
Two awards were won by the V10 high-performance engine, which is to be found under the bonnet of the BMW M5 and M6. The 507bhp power package with a capacity of 5 litres received the award “Best Performance Engine of the Year” as in the last two years, and also won in the engine class over 4.0 litres capacity. In 2005 and 2006 this exceptional engine won the “International Engine of the Year” award itself. “The BMW V10 is still unsurpassed”, said jury member Jeroen Jongeneel of “De Telegraaf”.
The 2.0 – 2.5 litre Award was won by the 2.5 litre 6-cylinder petrol engine with VALVETRONIC which is used in the BMW Z4 Roadster 2.5si and X3 2.5si. With its fully variable valve control – used for the first time in 2001 and since established in millions of vehicles – the engine delivers 160 kW and founds the BMW philosophy of efficient dynamics. “You can hear the 2.5-litre engine from a long way off due to its exquisite sound”, says jury member Rogelio Rivera-Nava from Mexico. “The in-line 6-cylinder construction provides the basis for the technical purity of this most famous of all BMW engines. It is pleasure to drive it.”
And this was not the end of the prize series for BMW Group. In the 1.4-1.8 litre category the trophy jointly went to BMW Group and PSA Peugeot Citroën, the developing partners of the 1.6 litre turbo engine. It powers the MINI Cooper S with sporty 128 kW, as well as models of the developing partner in brand-specific adaption. The newly created special features of this 4-cylinder engine include the innovative Twin Scroll turbo technology and a fuel direct injection.
Over the last nine years, BMW has won over 30 of the highly sought-after “International Engine of the Year Award” trophies. This is impressive evidence of the BMW’s market leadership in the field of engine construction.
