BMW & Peugeot Announce New Engine Range

Sections: Official News | R56 (Hatch) Dec 13th, 2004 72 Comments

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Here's some news that gives us a glimpse into the future of the MINI range. BMW and PSA have released preliminary information regarding the new range of engines (code named Prince) that will power, among other things, the next generation of MINIs. Here's the press release:

“BMW Group and PSA Peugeot Citroen have unveiled the state-of-the-art technologies deployed in their new gasoline engines, the first to be jointly developed and produced by their cooperative venture.

Announced in July 2002, the two Companies' cooperation in gasoline engines is now setting new standards for performance, driving comfort and reductions in fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.
Beginning in 2006, the engines will equip small and mid-size cars produced by the Peugeot and Citroen marques as well as future models of the MINI. Production is expected to eventually total roughly one million units a year.

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At a special technology day at BMW Group's Research and Development Center in Munich, executives from both companies presented the technical features of two types of engines:

A 1.6-liter atmospheric engine with a variable valve timing distribution and a power output of 85 kW (115 hp).

A 1.6-liter direct injection, compressed turbo engine with a power output of 105 kW (143 hp). The new models are the first in a family that will eventually comprise engines delivering a range of power outputs from 55 kW (75 hp) to 125 kW (170 hp).

As a result of both group's expertise, these engines offer a large number of new features including:

Variable valve timing.

Fully controlled oil pump.

Single belt drive for all ancillary components.

Cylinder heads produced by lost foam casting.

In addition, several innovations have been developed, including:

Direct injection to optimize power.

Twin-Scroll turbocharger to improve response time and driving comfort.

Self-disengaging water pump to reduce fuel consumption and emissions.

The co-operation between BMW Group and PSA Peugeot Citroen clearly demonstrates that gasoline engines still offer a great potential of technological progress, thus contributing to the reduction of consumption and CO2 emissions while enhancing the car performances and its related driving pleasure.”

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What's that? You swear you've seen these specs before? Well if you're a dedicated MotoringFile or MINI2 reader you did almost exactly a year ago.

While the specs very closely follow what was posted on previously, they differ somewhat from what we've read recently in AutoExpress. Specifically there's no mention of a 200hp engine as a 170hp version is the highest listed.

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Written By: MF Staff

Patrick

Actually, I like Brazil so I don't really mind. You don't hear as many people taking shots at the Brazilians as they do the French for a reason. Plus, it's a Chrysler engine correct? Then agian post 05 JCW a small portion of that engine bay was replaced in the good ol' US of A.

Fact is -2 customers even if they try to hide it. The fact that the engine is built in the UK not France was probably a way to mitigate the negative sentiment. It might work, but it has already lost 2 sales.

I hope the fuel economy does turn out quite a bit better though. I actually don't think the current MCS gets amazing numbers. Figure that a 3 3/4 times larger engine in the C6 Vette moves a 20% heavier car MUCH faster with only a 7mpg city 4mpg highway hit. And compared to other engines out there the small block is considered low tech. It kinda makes you think just how great this new tech is ;-)
Lucas

I guess I'm the odd ball here — I prefer the turbos. I guess it's just my experience with my old trusty SAAB?

Turbos' boost is somewhat controlled by the engine tuning and ECU (I guess, at least on the SAAB — that's probably why the torque curve is flat after the engine reaches certain RPMs). The boost itself is, of course, non-linear, but once engaged gives a very smooth, constant delivery of power.

Supercharger, on the other hand, is more linear in nature — because the supercharger is connected directly to the engine drive shaft. So faster you drive, the more boost you get.

As far as Turbo and shutdown delay thingy — like others have explained before — modern turbo designs overcomes that problem — most of the time. On my Saab's manual, it only states a need for delay shutdown when engine has been driven hard immediately before shutdown, or when engine driven hard in high temperatures.
Louis

Is Patrick seriously saying he won't buy the new MINI under any circumstances because he disagrees with the current policies of the government in which the co-developer of the new engine is based?

You should make decisions like those on more important criteria, like initial body color choices.
R50

Are there 2 different engines pictured here? The engine in the last photo doesn't have a turbo charger. Thanks for this “article.” I love reading about the technical side of the equation.
R50

The pdf file at the above Peugeot url lists oil change interval at 20,000 miles! What will our grandfathers say?
http://motoringfile.com Gabe

Michael – you beat me to it… I was going to be posting the full release Tuesday :)
http://motoringfile.com Gabe

I don't understand why the negativity towards an engine that was co-developed by a worldwide company that happens to be based in France. 100s of components in the current MINI are made in France (and all over Europe for that matter).

The key you hold in your hand when starting your MINI is made by the French company Valeo for example.
http://www.swflamini.com Michael

Sorry Gabe ;)
Nicholas P

uh oh!

Patrick will have to trade in his MINI then, if it's made by the gasp FRENCH

i don't base my purchases on whether or not my government agrees with the policies of another nation…after all, half of America doesn't agree with our current policies…and most of america didn't even vote for our current president the first time…
Scott

I'm also a fan of turbos (and a former Saab owner). If you plan to modify your car to make as much power as possible, a turbo is the only way to go. Becuase of the diminising returns associated with a supercharger, a turbo engine will always be capable of making more power than the same engine with a supercharger. I was talking to a guy last weekend who has an Audi TT with a chip and other mods and he's somewhere in the 275 hp range with a 1.8 liter engine.
Rodney

It's funny the number of Saab owners on this board. I think the die hard supercharger fans out there will just have to wait and see. The low end torque of the low pressure turbo is truly a delight. V8 torque from a small four. I envision a day when the V8 will be put away in favor of small displacement turbo charged engines. Europe is a good example of this. Right now it's still cheaper to build a low tech V8. High tech 4 cylinders are expensive. But that cost will deminish over time. An example is the Crown Vic, it comes with a big V8 that puts out 239HP@4,750 RPM and 287lb/ft@4,100 RPM. The 2.3l Saab Aero puts out 250HP@5300 RPM and 258lb/ft@1900 RPM. That's roughly the same numbers in an engine that is exactly half the size. But note the Saab gets full torque at only 1900RPM. One quick CPU swap and those numbers jump to over 300+ easy. Can you imagine a 4 banger in a Crown Vic… It would never sell no matter how much more HP it produced! Americans are too accustomed to the big thirsty V8.
michael Boice

idiaz,

Ooooh, sounds great! But, I would expect output to be somewhere north of 200hp, perhaps 220hp. time will tell as Gabe pointed out.
Oliver Bonaccorso

What is so good about a 1.6L engine that only produces 85kW or 105kW? is this so spectacular? japanese 4cyl cars have been producing 130kW from a naturally aspirated, variable valve timing 1.6L engine for the past 10 years! and emissions arent too bad either! now a real advance would be to slash emissions and still retain high power outputs. that would be an advance.
Pritch

“A 1.6-liter atmospheric engine with a variable geometry turbocharger and a power output of 85 kW (115 hp).”

This comment in the text above is not true and not in the original press release – which refers to variable valve timing instead (an atmospheric engine has of course no turbo)!!
http://motoringfile.com Gabe

Pritch – not sure what to tell you …. that info was copied straight from the release I got from BMW. That being said from what I had heard previously the 115hp engine should be normally aspirated.

Other sites that are covering this news have that sentence in there as well. Perhaps it's a typo in the original release.

I'd refer to the story above this one on the main page for more technical detail.
Pritch

Gabe, it's surely a typo somewhere, because following your link (from your “engine details report”) to the PSA web site (and then to the main page), I find exactly the same basic sentence, but just slightly different:

“A 1.6-liter atmospheric engine with a variable valve timing distribution and a power output of 85 kW (115 hp).”

Maybe to save any confusion, you could modify your report accordingly (assuming that they have now also corrected their information) ;-)
http://motoringfile.com Gabe

Ah they did change it. I've updated it with the new text.

Thanks!
Gilbert

turbo????? BMW gonna' kidding and only 143 bhp????

I don't know..
Stuart

BMW/Peugeot joint design, built in UK, lighter, faster to spin up, tough as old boots, lots of headroom for 'tuning' ;) , Can't stop the Grin factor :D I've just ordered an MCS for next year just to tide me over till the 'new' ones arrive. 1st year production will be fine by me.
http://motoringfile.com Gabe

Stuart – all good to hear. I'll probably be one of the first in line for the new car in '07. But until then I might be ordering something to tide me over as well :)
http://www.mini2mini.org Dan Smith

Appears BMW has decided to use a peugeot 106 gti lump and the same lump with a turbo. I can see Mini being critised for dropping the excellent supercharged engine.
non believer

Austin Mini = British BMW Mini = GERMAN, not really a mini is it.

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