BMW’s subsequent chapter could also be electrical, nevertheless it’s not completely electrical. Because the Neue Klasse household of automobiles prepares to redefine the model’s EV lineup, the Bavarians are conserving a large powertrain portfolio alive — from gasoline and hybrid to hydrogen. And the numbers present it’s working. In a latest dialogue with Motor1, BMW’s Head of Growth Dr. Joachim Submit revealed a stunning determine: 2024 was one of the best yr ever for BMW’s V8 gross sales. It’s a putting milestone in an period when most luxurious automakers are eliminating eight-cylinder engines solely.
“We wish to give the client one of the best automotive, and so they can resolve what sort of powertrain they need. Not get a brand new automotive provided that they select an EV, an previous automotive if they need a combustion engine. The world is totally different; final yr, we had essentially the most gross sales of [premium] EVs, and on the similar time, report excessive gross sales for eight-cylinder engines.”
This steadiness between electrification and custom isn’t unintended. BMW has fastidiously designed its lineup round three key architectures. The Neue Klasse is a devoted EV platform that can debut with the iX3 subsequent yr and later the i3 Sedan, signaling a brand new digital and electrical technology. Alongside it, the CLAR platform stays BMW’s versatile spine, able to supporting internal-combustion, plug-in hybrid, full-electric, and even hydrogen powertrains. Smaller fashions proceed to experience on FAAR, which underpins each electrical and ICE variants just like the X1, X2, and MINI Countryman.
The V8 Stays Core to BMW’s Id
Inside this combine, the V8 nonetheless has a particular place. It’s a defining a part of BMW’s character — refined, muscular, and able to delivering the form of easy torque that no inline-six or four-cylinder can replicate. In the previous couple of years, the V8-powered BMW household got here with both both the N63 or the newer S68, each 4.4-liter twin-turbocharged engines. However right now, the M-tuned S68 powers all the lineup. It made its debut in 2022 with hybrid functionality and an electrified 48-volt system that enables it to satisfy stricter world emissions requirements with out sacrificing efficiency.
You’ll discover the S68 within the XM, the brand new M5 (G90), and throughout the M8, X5 M, and X6 M Competitors fashions. It’s additionally powering flagship Vary Rover and Vary Rover Sport variants — a uncommon occasion the place BMW’s personal efficiency know-how is utilized by one other luxurious model.
The V8’s Future Seems to be Safe
Regardless of the business’s electrical shift, BMW isn’t accomplished with its eight-cylinders. The subsequent-generation X5, X6, and X7 — already in improvement — will proceed to supply V8 choices in a number of markets, alongside plug-in hybrid and six-cylinder variants. The X5 M and X6 M will each retain the S68, and even the 7 Sequence is predicted to maintain a V8 providing in choose configurations. Future ALPINA fashions, now absolutely built-in beneath BMW’s umbrella, are additionally more likely to proceed that includes eight-cylinder engines, combining energy with the model’s signature refinement.
For BMW, the continuation of the V8 isn’t about nostalgia. It’s a sensible choice primarily based on buyer demand and world market variety. As some areas speed up towards electrification, others (just like the U.S. market) nonetheless favor conventional powertrains—significantly in giant luxurious automobiles and efficiency fashions.
Submit’s remarks underline BMW’s versatile method. The corporate will preserve growing electrical automobiles on the Neue Klasse platform whereas sustaining combustion engines inside the CLAR lineup for so long as laws and consumers enable. For now, the V8 stays a part of that technique—and it’s nonetheless discovering loads of takers.
[Source: Motor1]
