Starting July next year (2015), BMW will put the new designed 4 cylinder turbon engine (code name B48) in its 320i sedan, to replace the old N20 engine; Also the new B58 six-cylinder engine will appear in the 335i too.
Compared to the current N20 engine, the new B48 four-cylinder turbo engine has a smaller bore (B48: 82mm; N20: 84mm) and longer stroke (B48: 94.6mm; N20: 90.1mm). The smaller bore/stroke ratio means this new engine is more focus on low-end torque, rather than high revving power.
The B48 engine uses piezoelectric direct injection, valvetronic, Double VANOS. Please pay attention the the piezoelectric direct injection: the piezoelectric injector is 3 times more expensive than the solenoid injector. For your reference, the N54 engine (used in 2007 – 2010 models with -35i postfix) uses piezoelectric injectors, the N55 (relaces N54 in corresponding models) uses the cheaper solenoid injectors; the N20 (the current 320i/328i engine) is using the solenoid injectors too. So it is a step up for B48 in this aspect.
Below is photo of the B48 engine.
BMW told us the output of the B48 engine can be tuned to within the range of 181 to 255hp, torque range is 207 – 295lb-ft (maximum torque is available from 1,250rpm). So the final output of the 320i engine can be any value within those ranges. But please do not forget although the 328i does not get this new engine next year, it will finally have it one more year later, and the largest output it can have is 255hp. To protect the sales of 328i, our best bet is the 320i will not output more than 200hp.
At the same time that 320i gets a new heart, the same thing will happen to the 335i. The new B58 engine, which is estimated to output between 340 – 350hp.
As a side note, BMW also has the 1.2L/1.5L three-cylinder B38 engine along with the B48. The B38’s output range is from 74 to 228hp, torque from 111 – 236 lb-ft.
The diesel version of B48 and B38 – B47 and B37 respectively, share about 60% of the architecture with their gasoline version cousin, and they can be made in the same production line.
Personally I consider the BMW 320i is a better deal compared to the 328i: you hardly notice the power difference during daily driving conditions, has better handling (lighter than the 328i), and the most important thing: it is much cheaper than the 328i.
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