BMW to sell engines to Mercedes, others

Posted Oct 24th 2008 7:01PM

Link to Autoblog

BMW, the Munich-based German automaker, is reportedly in discussion with other automakers -- rivals in some cases -- to sell their engines and transmissions. Klaus Draeger, BMW's head of development, told Auto Motor und Sport that the automaker is in advanced talks with Mercedes-Benz about licensing engines to its Stuttgart-based competitor.

Specifics have not been announced, but one likely candidate would be BMW's new V-12, set to debut in the new 7 Series and baby Rolls-Royce sedan. Mercedes would drop it under the hood of their flagship S-Class and Maybach. There was no mention about the possibility of BMW's twin-turbo inline-six finding itself under the hood of a Mercedes (while BMW continues to refine their award-winning inline-six powerplant, Mercedes dropped their popular straight-six in the mid-1990's and replaced it with a V6), but Draeger did hint that other automakers have approached the company about diesel engine technology. Engine and transmission sharing isn't uncommon in the industry, but such a move would be a first for the two companies, each longstanding rivals with products selling in the identical segments.

Didn't we see this coming? Didn't we all speculate this to be the reason behind GM's decision to cancel the Northstar V8 replacement (UV8)?

Here's what I was thinking of...

BMW may sell engines and transmissions to GM and Fiat

Posted Feb 28th 2008 4:33PM

Link to Autoblog

Word out of Frankfurt from the Financial Times Deutschland is that BMW is in talks to sell engines and transmissions to both General Motors and Fiat. All three companies have declined to officially comment.

The news is interesting, but not surprising. You may recall that GM has been selling transmissions to BMW for well over a decade for use in various 3 Series and 5 Series models (the current BMW 328i automatic uses a 6-speed GM 6L45 unit). So far, however, all have been automatic transmissions.

Speculating about the details, our tipster suggests that BMW may be helping GM with their SMG-style transmission program. As for the engines? It is possible that BMW could be selling its 4.4L V8 for the Cadillac line or lending GM a twin-turbo to compete with Ford's twin-turbo direct-injected V6?

I don't get it.... M-B has been very strong in developing engines for decades..why would they want to buy engines from their main competitor? Mind-boggling.

Something to replace the small Mitsubishi engines they are using now is most likely. BMW is also likely to share its larger 4s with PSA, supplementing the new-generation 1.4 and 1.6 L engines, the first generation of which was developed with Chrysler.