China may be the BMW Group’s largest market, but the United States is in second place, and it’s Americans’ appetite for large engines that is helping keep the V8 alive. Speaking with Automotive News Europe, a BMW spokesperson said that demand for V8 models in the U.S. is still “above average,” adding that the configuration is likely to remain popular with Americans for the foreseeable future. As a result, production of certain engine components will continue beyond BMW’s previously announced cut-off date of 2027, with the automaker’s Munich plant to continue producing cylinder heads, crankshafts, and crankcases for V8 and V12 engines even as Neue Klasse EVs enter production there.
V8 and V12 Combustion Power to Coexist with EVs
BMW’s Munich plant was set to produce only EVs from next year, but while the electric i3 sedan will enter production there in the second half of 2026, production of V8 and V12 engine components will continue (after that is anyone’s guess), and there are several products in which they will find homes. Among them are the facelifted X5, X6, and X7. The X5 is expected to get its LCI update before the end of the year, as is the 7 Series, with both to retain eight-cylinder engines. The refreshed X6 and X7 are expected to debut in 2027 and arrive the following year, also with V8s in their range-topping trims. Naturally, that means the X5 M and X6 M will retain their 4.4-liter S68 twin-turbo V8s, as will the eventual update of the M5.
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Elsewhere in the BMW Group, Rolls-Royce’s V12 will also benefit from America’s appetite for capacity, something illustrated by poor sales of the all-electric Spectre, while the newly formed BMW Alpina is likely to use V8s in its next B7 and XB7, based on the 7 Series and X7, respectively. Cars with smaller engines will also retain combustion, though they will adopt a form of electrification.
Six-Cylinder Engines Aren’t Going Anywhere Either
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As we’ve reported previously, the B58 3.0-liter turbocharged straight-six will stick around, too, with the next M340i expected to make M3 owners nervous at the lights by adopting a mild-hybrid setup capable of 400 horsepower or more. The next G84-generation M3 will also be electrified, with its S58 to be bolstered by a 48-volt mild-hybrid system. Total output will be somewhere beyond 500 hp, eclipsing the G80 M3‘s 473-hp starting point with ease and helping mask any weight gain. But since this won’t be a PHEV like the M5, the weight gain won’t be extreme. Unlike Mercedes, which opted to downsize and electrify only to revert to six- and eight-cylinder engines, BMW has recognized that Americans (and other global customers) want more than four cylinders, and it will give them what they ask for until it’s no longer feasible to do so.
