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      12-19-2012, 10:34 AM   #41
bradleyland
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Quote:
Originally Posted by K3N R3D View Post
I totally get the distinction now getting rid of the IS models and putting the M in front of the series. I don't really like it but some dude that gets paid way more than I do comes up with those brilliant decisions.

On the BMW website this is the information they have on the M135i. Maybe I'm reading it wrong but it says it comes with an M engine. Just curious but can someone clarify this for me if I'm understanding it wrong?
http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newvehicle...model.html#t=l
Let's get one thing straight: this absolutely is not your fault. BMW is diluting the M brand. End of story. With that out of the way, we have to take a step back and ask ourselves what an "M engine" is.

Traditionally, M cars ending in a single digit (M3, M5, etc) had engines that were unique to the M car they were found in. For example, the V8 found in the E92 M3 was built and designed for the M3. It was not sourced from elsewhere. Well, technically, it's based on the V10 found in the M5, but it was an M engine design from start to finish. In the past, BMW Motorsport (an outside division responsible for developing M cars) has used off-the-shelf engine blocks, but the M variant of the engine always had very special components like forged internals and re-designed heads and valvetrains. In short, "real" M engines are a significant deviation from the BMW engines you'd find in a mainstream BMW.

When we look at the M135i, the engine is a vanilla N55 [MAY BE INCORRECT, SEE IMPORTANT POST BY MAPEZZUL BELOW] with a different software package. That I'm aware of, there are no physical changes to the engine internals. This is the case for all MXXXi models. The engine is a production variant with some minor changes; usually software.

So, the engine in the M135i may be designated as an "M Performance" engine, but that is a marketing label only. The enthusiasts here on Bimmerpost prefer to look at what the engine actually is, rather than what label is assigned to it.
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Last edited by bradleyland; 12-19-2012 at 11:02 AM..
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