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Kicking It Truly Old School: BMW 2002
Like it or not, after a long absence, BMW may bring four-cylinder engines back to the U.S. to help it meet stricter fuel economy standards. According to Bloomberg, rather than make an even stronger case for clean diesel engines, (which Americans just can’t seem to embrace), BMW is seriously contemplating a return to smaller engines.
BMW 1 Series: Likely Engine Candidate
About half of BMW’s models worldwide have diesel engines: the 1 Series, 3 Series, X3 compact SUV, and the entry level version of the midsize 5 Series sedan. In the U.S., BMW offers a six-cylinder turbo-diesel engine on two models: the BMW 335d and the BMW X5 xDrive35. A four-cylinder BMW diesel that produces 204 hp was named Europe’s engine of the year in 2008 but it’s not offered here. Most obvious candidates for a downsized engine would be either the 1 Series and/or 3 Series compact sedans.
Pristine Four-Cylinder From 1972 BMW 2002 tii
While older BMWs that used four-cylinder engines were notoriously underpowered, modern twin-turbocharged four-cylinder engines are capable of around 200 horsepower, or roughly the same amount as current six-cylinder engines. Unfortunately, they also cost more to make. BMW stopped importing four-cylinders into the U.S. in 1999.
Your “pristine” ’72 tii engine picture may or may not be a ’72. A real ’72 tii would likely have curved plastic intake rams held on by hose-type clamps, rather than the cast rams shown. The configuration in the picture was introduced as standard in the ’73 model year. A few may have slipped out as ’72s, but very few if any. This is a common upgrade performed in restoration.
At one time I owned a ’72 tii (#2760463) in Inka color as shown, with plastic rams. Miss it like all hell. Went like holy stink and ran the S**T out of most anything on wheels.
I don’t know what year that white 2002 is, but I’m positive that it’s super cute and knows how to party.