BMW to create Triple Turbo? What’s better than twin? Triple of course, as less isn’t always more. BMW seem to have applied this thinking to their current 3.0-litre straight-six engine and inside rumours are rife that they are preparing a 250kW-odd tripleturbo diesel engine that may find its way into a high performance X5 and X6 dubbed the 45d. No doubt if successful, the engine and its technology will find its way across various other model ranges and capacities. BMW will not forego efficiency at the cost of performance however (in fact the entire turbo-charging ideal is to extract performance from smaller engines to maximize overall economy) and the engine will have all of their EfficientDynamics technologies added to it, while the vehicle itself will no doubt feature various other supporting E.D. components such as regenerative braking, start/stop, and similar contributing, fuel-saving elements.
BMW’s current 3.0-litre SD diesel engine makes around 214kW and 580Nm of torque across a wide band starting at a low 1 750r/min, making it not only plenty powerful, but practical and effortless to drive through the gears. All statistics for a triple-turbo variant are currently well speculated, scientific calculations only, but it would be realistic and more than feasible to believe that BMW can add 15% to 20% to these figures by adding the extra turbo. BMW is in our opinion one of the manufacturers with the firmest grip on the diesel bullhorns and are wrangling it about brilliantly. Their dedication towards the perfection of the diesel engine in terms of longevity, performance, efficiency, comfort and overall real-world usability is an example to anyone who ever relegated them as smelly, noisy tractor demons. Although the BMW ”3D” engine still sits in the rumour mill at the moment, smoke usually means fire and if any manufacturer can, and should, produce such a wondrous thing, it’s the boys from Bavaria. - Kevin Willemse