BMW admits that they regularly develop and test prototype V6 engines

Back in 2011, one of the most interesting rumors floating around was the one around BMW allegedly building a V6 engine for the F80/F82 M3/M4. However, this was never confirmed. Now, Jason Camisa of Road & Track, says that the Munich engineers indeed build and test prototype V6 engines, an internal policy that BMW has enforced. Camisa also mentions that the results from the V6 engine testing don’t met the rigorous engineering standards imposed by BMW.

At the moment, BMW remains the sole champion of the straight-six. Munich engineers admit that they regularly develop and test prototype V-6s, per internal policy, but say the results don’t come close to meeting company noise and harshness standards. Mercedes-Benz must not have such stringent benchmarks. Once renowned for its silken inline-sixes, Stuttgart phased out those engines and began building V-6s out of its V-8s during the dark, cost-cutting days of the marque’s DaimlerChrysler ownership. As the sting of that failed merger continues to fade, so will the company’s coarse, complex, 90-degree V-6, which is being retired in favor of a 60-degree unit. This stopgap engine, which fits into the vee-focused packaging of Mercedes’s current lineup, is noticeably smoother than the 90-degree unit, but its exhaust still sounds like Fran Drescher on Spanish fly—not the voice you want your luxury car to sing with.

Still too early to tell if BMW will launch a V6-powered car in the future.

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