BMW fans and petrolheads everywhere – rejoice.
BMW has announced its V8 engines are very much here to stay.
Alongside the brand’s six-cylinder engines remaining a core feature of their plans, the Bavarians have confirmed that their V8 powertrains will also remain.
And that is news to celebrate.
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Alive and kicking: The V8 lives on
Sitting down in an exclusive interview with Automotive News, BMW’s head of development, Frank Weber, discussed the future of the Bavarian’s engineering platforms.
“V8s are here to stay”, Weber said.
“There are markets such as the U.S. and the Middle East where you cannot replace V8s with inline-six hybrids.”
“This is not just about performance—while they may be comparable in terms of acceleration, customers value the smoothness, sound, and overall driving experience of a V8. We will continue to offer them.”
Because of the factors keeping the V8 alive (thank you America and Middle East), it does mean that the V8 options will be region specific.
This means that in regions like Europe (with ever-tightening emission restrictions), petrolheads everywhere will have to watch on as the U.S. and Middle East markets continue to enjoy the growl of BMW’s V8 powertrains.
BMW V8: Living to see another day
It’s been a rough decade for petrolheads everywhere.
With BMW only having ever made one V10 engine (the incredible S85 engine), as well as having phased out its V12 platform, the V8 has been the main refuge for fans of the Bavarian power.
It’s a truly brilliant engine, too. The 4.4 liter, twin turbo-charged (S68) V8 features in a majority of BMW’s current offerings.
And it is set to feature in a slew of the brand’s upcoming models.
From what we know at the moment, the U.S. market is set to receive the new X5 M60, followed by the next-gen X7 and X6 in 2027 and 2028 respectively.
The growling heart of the V8 is still beating loud, and will thankfully continue to for some time to come.
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