BMW will sell a diesel four-cylinder engine in North America. In an interview with InsideLine, BMW NA’s VP of engineering, Tom Baloga, said that the 4-cylinder would arrive in the 3 Series and possibly in the 5 Series as well, with both the X3 and X5 also strong possibilities. Baloga also said that contrary to previous reports, not all new diesel BMWs will be all-wheel drive.

The engine in question will be a 2.0-liter turbo-diesel motor, which BMW has recently made impressive performance and fuel mileage gains with. In the 320d Efficient Dynamics vehicle release a few months ago at the Frankfurt Auto Show, the diesel 3 Series makes 163-hp and 265 ft-lbs of torque, while achieving 57 mpg!

BMW’s plan is to bring diesel cars up from essentially nothing (with the 335d) to 10-20 percent of its U.S. sales volume.

Baloga didn’t give any dates, but the 4-cylinder diesel BMW seems several years off yet, as the German automaker insists it must be as quiet as a six-cylinder, yet deliver the same performance and better fuel economy. To achieve the performance level, BMW plans to reduce the weight of its vehicles. Currently, one of the biggest problems facing the project is the expensive emissions systems required to make diesel’s meet U.S. (California) emissions standards.

Still, Baloga is confident. “Our four-cylinder diesel will be so good that people will readily accept it as a replacement for six-cylinders,” he said.

GALLERY: BMW 320d Efficient Dynamics

[Source: InsideLine]

BMW is looking at bringing back for-cylinder engines to the U.S. in order to meet tough new fuel-economy regulations. BMW’s engineering boss, Tom Baloga, told Bloomberg that the smaller and more fuel-efficient engines were likely needed in order to meet the Obama Administration’s 2016 CAFE regulations, which call for a new fleet average of 35.5 mpg – up from 27.3 mpg for 2011.

Last year BMW’s fleet-wide average was 26.5 mpg.

Currently BMW sells the 1 Series, 3 Series, 5 Series and X3 with four-cylinder engines overseas, where fuel-efficient diesel options are also popular. In fact, Baloga says that due to the high volume of diesel sales in Europe, the automaker’s current European fleet average would already meet the 2016 CAFE regulations.

BMW currently offers a high-performance 3 Series diesel, the 335d, in the U.S., but Baloga says BMW will not rely on diesels to offset less fuel-efficient models as demand for diesels in the U.S. isn’t high enough to make a difference.

The real issue in bringing over four-cylinder engines, says Baloga, is keeping the focus on performance. That being said, the four-cylinder models are likely to either be turbocharged or used in significantly lighter models.

BMW is also looking at growing its offering of 1 Series models in the U.S., with numerous new models planned. The higher sales volumes of the more efficient engines will also help to increase BMW’s fuel-efficiency fleet average.

[Source: Bloomberg]