Just how smooth an inline six is, really ?

[Huckfeldt]

I stand by the 2 cars and pop the hoods. One is a 10-year old E46 325i with the M54 inline six engine with 60,000+ miles on it. The other is a brand new E90 320i with 4-cyl engine with only 30 miles on it.

The M54 engine is wayyy more smoother than the new 4 cyl. I find this.. amazing.

With Mercedes also reportedly going back to inline six and ditch the V6 config, just how smooth an inline six is really, and WHY IS IT NOT A FACTOR for car enthusiasts buying a new car ?

If you buy an inline 6, even a decade and 100,000 miles later it would still be almost as smooth as new. A 4-cyl engine will be diesel-like in 10 years or less.

Rants welcome.

 

[Human]

^
No person who owned a BMW with it's world renowned and famous i6 can/would disagree - you simply cannot and that is the short and long of it!

 

[martinbo]

Well, why do you think there's an uproar from the true enthusiasts who understand the principles of the inherent balance of an inline six with this move to turbo'd fours. We're not idiots, we appreciate the Market Forces driving this progression but don't let anyone tell you it's mechanical progress. It's efficiency progress, certainly, but the end experience for the driver is diminished.

 

[q5s]

Did you do the coin test?

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[Mr Robert]

V12 and I6, the only way to go.

 

[bmwownage]

I-6 is amazing, not sure if it's just with BMWs but those BMW I-6's only get better as you put more mileage on, well M54 at least coz i've experienced. Damn refined piece of machinery, powerful is gorgeous.

 

[FC123]

When it comes to early end 80's I6, nothing beats the Toyota 2JZ in my opinion. Later BMWs from M54 and beyond are fantastic though. My father's E90 325i was a dream when it came to balance and smoothness. I believe I'll get one as a daily drive one day.

My S3 TFSI is a tractor in comparison, but so are other German I4s, I've tried.

 

[bum-man]

Well of course 2JZ + NAS would beat a normal 2JZ.

 

[Sayyaaf]

^ classic

 

[FC123]

Funny thing, the 2JZ-GTE is actually German from Johann A. Krause Maschinenfabrik GmbH and the transmission from GETRAG, so all the famous bits are pure German. Must be why it's such a nice I6...

 

[klier]

NAS with NOS head. LMAO

 

[Wunderkind]

The in-line six is a great configuration. But the length of the i-6 engine does pose problems for car manufacturers with todays stringent pedestrian and occupant safety legislations.

I think the only reason BMW committed themselves to the venerable i-6 engine is because they have downsized the small capacity V8's to 6-cylinder engines and hence they are now building the i-6 engines in larger numbers. Also, they have been able to engineer the i-6 engine to be smaller and shorter and moving some of the ancilliaries around.

It's great to see the i-6 engine continue

 

[330CIZHP]

Having owned a 330 CI E46 for over 5 years, I must say it is very smooth.

Funny thing, the 2JZ-GTE is actually German from Johann A. Krause Maschinenfabrik GmbH and the transmission from GETRAG, so all the famous bits are pure German. Must be why it's such a nice I6...

Where did you get that from?? Only some final fine tuning to meet the homologation requirements set by JGTC was outsourced to Johann Krause Germany. 2JZ-GTE was developed entirely in Japan by Toyota and was based on the 80s predecessor 1JZ-GTE and 7M-GTE engines. The turbos were developed by Hitachi. Also the heads have some minor work from Yamaha.

 

[FC123]

Having owned a 330 CI E46 for over 5 years, I must say it is very smooth.



Where did you get that from?? Only some final fine tuning to meet the homologation requirements set by JGTC was outsourced to Johann Krause Germany. 2JZ-GTE was developed entirely in Japan by Toyota and was based on the 80s predecessor 1JZ-GTE and 7M-GTE engines. The turbos were developed by Hitachi. Also the heads have some minor work from Yamaha.

I've often heard JK had some more to do with it. But no matter - it's just an example of a nice I6 in this thread.

 

[Levi68]

I6 and V12 are the best engines, but do not forget H4, H6 and H8. However, V10 not being very balance, sounds very special and V8 is a very nice compact and potential configuration. In the case of M3/M4 F8X, the I6 engine that will be found under the hood, based on N54/55 is not M3 worthy, nothing like the S54 that was in the M3 E46/Z4 M E85/86. That is just my opinion based on no facts about the "S55". I hope BMW M can prove me wrong, but they didn't with the N54Tu that is found in the 1 Series M E82.

 

[klier]

In the case of M3/M4 F8X, the I6 engine that will be found under the hood, based on N54/55 is not M3 worthy, nothing like the S54 that was in the M3 E46/Z4 M E85/86.

Dude, you don't have any idea what you're talking about. Nobody knows what engine will be under the hood. All I know is that it will be extremely worthy. Like always with the M3.
Stop with the nonsense, and don't act like you know things we don't, because you do not. Noone does.

 

[Levi68]

I didn't say I know something. I just said, eventhoug the 1 Series M E82 ended up being a good car, for me its engines is not M worthy. I am not critisizing it is based on a BMW AG engine, as all BMW M engines exept S85/S65 were based on BMW AG engines. Best example of what BMW M can do with BMW AG engines are the 3.2l I6 of the M3 E46 and the 6.5l V12 of the McLaren F1.

 

[-=Hot|Ice=-]

Dude, you don't have any idea what you're talking about. Nobody knows what engine will be under the hood. All I know is that it will be extremely worthy. Like always with the M3.
Stop with the nonsense, and don't act like you know things we don't, because you do not. Noone does.

That is exactly why he is on my ignore list.

 

[Sunny]

I didn't say I know something. I just said, eventhoug the 1 Series M E82 ended up being a good car, for me its engines is not M worthy. I am not critisizing it is based on a BMW AG engine, as all BMW M engines exept S85/S65 were based on BMW AG engines. Best example of what BMW M can do with BMW AG engines are the 3.2l I6 of the M3 E46 and the 6.5l V12 of the McLaren F1.

The S70/2 that powered McLaren F1 was 6.1L not 6.5.