BMW M CEO says straight-six, V8 engines will live on

As more and more automakers make the switch to electrification and downsizing of their engines, enthusiasts are wary that some of their favorite high-performance vehicles could get the same treatment. Heck, cars like the all-new BMW M5 already embraced electrification as the high-performance sedan is now a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) in order to meet stricter emission regulations while still delivering supercar-like performance.

But for BMW M CEO Frank van Meel, the straight-six and the V8 engines will survive despite the introduction of stricter Euro 7 emission standards. Speaking with AutoCar UK, the executive said that despite Euro 7 bringing stricter emission regulations, he assured that the brand's signature straight-six and V8 engines will live on.

“The six-cylinder in-line engine is our legacy, and the V8 has got a long history in racing, so we intend to keep going,” said Meel.

However, Meek did say that meeting stricter emissions is not just about making sure their engines are Euro 7 compliant. Instead, it's also about keeping performance while improving emissions. In current settings for high-performance engines, fuel is used to help cool the engine when the right air-fuel ratio is met. But under the stricter Euro 7 standard, it's impossible.

“The whole story is about driving with lambda one [when the air-fuel ratio for combustion is perfectly matched], so you have to keep that, and there's no cooling. Normally, if you are in high-performance situations, you cool using the fuel. With EU7, that’s impossible, so you need to find different ways of avoiding temperature build-up. The combustion process has to be improved in regards to heat build-up and also the cooling, and those are the challenges. Of course, you can [reduce] performance to avoid this temperature increase, but you don’t want to – that’s where we started. The new balance of performance is that we drive lambda one, but we don’t want to lose performance,” added Meel.

When asked if BMW M cars would switch to downsizing its engines to three- and four-cylinders while still using electrified systems, Meel simply said “No”. He added that when it comes to meeting M's specific mindset when it comes to performance, such engines will not be able to meet the standards.

“I couldn’t imagine putting a four-cylinder in an M5,” shared Meel.

With the boss of BMW M assuring that the inline-six and V8 engines will live on and will not be downsized, enthusiasts need not worry that the next-generation M cars will lose their signature engines and performance.