BMW Will Keep the V-8 Engine Because Americans Love It

The downsizing era is in full swing. BMW stopped selling a V-12 7 Series in 2022 when the M760i was retired. You can still have twelve cylinders in a Rolls-Royce, but the V-12 is never coming back in a car featuring the famous roundel. The V-10 has been dead for 15 years, so you might wonder when the axe will fall on the V-8. Thankfully, that won’t happen anytime soon. You can primarily thank Americans for keeping the eight-cylinder engine alive.

In an interview with Automotive News, BMW development boss Frank Weber clearly stated, “V-8s are here to stay. We will continue to offer V-8s.” He explained that an electrified inline-six engine can’t fully replace a brawny V-8 in the eyes of buyers from the United States and the Middle East. The R&D head honcho argued that even though a downsized hybrid powertrain delivers roughly the same performance and acceleration, customers “like the smoothness, sound, and feeling of a V-8.” Can’t argue with that.

But there’s more to it than that. Emissions regulations are substantially more relaxed in the US and the Middle East than in Europe. There could come a time when larger BMWs will have a V-8 engine in America but not in the 27 countries of the European Union. In fact, it has already happened. The 760i isn’t sold in the EU unless you opt for the armored and far more expensive 7 Series Protection specialty model.

Weber didn’t mention which future models will have V-8 engines, but it’s not hard to identify some of them. Prototypes of the next-generation X5 have been spied testing, and there are reports that BMW will also renew the X6 and X7. At the very least, the three luxury SUVs are expected to retain eight cylinders in the US. The twin-turbo 4.4-liter unit will likely continue in the Middle East and other parts of the world with less stringent legislation regarding emissions.

At the other end of the engine lineup, Europeans get three-cylinder BMWs with tiny 1.5-liter turbocharged gasoline engines, which Mini also uses. You won’t find an inline-three engine in a car sold by BMW in the US. It’s worth noting that in some parts of the world, the previous-generation 3 Series was sold with a three-cylinder engine, which even today seems sacrilegious for a sports sedan that had a big ol’ V-8 at one point.