BMW W20K06U0 engine

The BMW W20 engine is a special, high-performance, overly compact engine. It only has two cylinders and a water-cooled four-stroke inline-four with two I3 series top shafts, which are introduced only in electric cars. The engine, which has the full name W20K06U0 has been installed by the developers in the i3 Range Extender model of cars. And it acts as an additional power plant, because first the power unit affects the generator system that charges the battery with high voltage, and then only the vehicle is started. Thanks to this system, the car is able to continue driving for about one hundred thousand kilometers, having traveled only on recharging from electricity. Also after it is recharged with gasoline from the generator system, the vehicle continues to drive.

Engine specifications W20K06U0

Advantages

The W20K06U0 contract engines for BMW, which are actually new engines that are just about to flood the market, are high performance and high quality. BMW cars do not have thick mileage yet, and gas stations have just started introducing electric fueling stations for such cars. There are many advantages to purchasing a car with such a powertrain. Among them are not only minimal fuel costs and significant financial savings, but also a significantly longer service life. The only thing is that you need to look after your own car and service it in a timely manner.

Vehicles with this engine have implemented Valvetronic systems, due to which it takes minimum amount of fuel to drive while recharging. Also, the motor does not work from the throttle, as a system of air supply directly to the cylinder blocks has been applied to the chambers where the intake is carried out using valves that change height.

This motor is very responsive and easy to drive. Even at low revs, it holds high torque speeds. A new system that can change the phases in the timing also helps the engine to function. It directly affects the camshafts that are mounted on the intake and exhaust valves. This significantly reduces fuel consumption when transferring gasoline from the generator to the battery, and also increases the revolutions of each of the valves, so they tend to open in advance, that is, faster than at idle speed.

Features

Since electric cars cannot travel too long distances, because their systems are not yet too advanced, the battery should be sufficient for 100 thousand kilometers of mileage. After that, it is necessary to expect from the system that the battery charge will reach critical levels, about which the system electronics will issue a corresponding signal on the dashboard will have to switch to gasoline and then drive on fuel. At the same time, the “extender” range can provide enough energy to reach the required volumes. In order to realize low fuel consumption and reduce CO2 emissions, the gasoline power unit is also equipped with a “Start-Stop” function.

Powertrain characteristics

Since the motor tends to be optional, you should understand some factors about it in technical terms:

• volume accuracy is 1.997 liters;
• an aluminum type cylindrical block is built in;
• injector type of power supply has been introduced;
• installed four cylinders and 16 valves in total;
• piston stroke is 90.1 mm with a compression ratio of 10.2 to 11;
• maximum engine power at 5,000 rpm in 60 seconds is 245 horsepower;
• torque at 1250-4800 rpm in 60 seconds is a figure of 350 Nm;
• 95-98 type AI is considered to be a Euro-standard fuel.

It should be taken into account that the power unit consumes up to 8 liters per hundred kilometers when driving in the city, on highways the figure decreases to 5.7 liters per 100 kilometers, and the average figure is 7 liters per 100 km. That is, this is how much the car owner will have to spend in time to recharge the engine from the generator to the battery. At the same time, the approximate resource of the motor is counted from 250 thousand kilometers of mileage, but if you do chip tuning, the power will increase to 300 horsepower and higher, which is a good result.

Changing the oil on the motor

Thanks to the timely replacement of oil fluid, car owners will be able to avoid many problems. Together with oil, all filters in the car should be changed at once – air, oil and fuel filters. Only after this, the system will “breathe” in a new way. As for the required viscosity of the oil fluid, it is necessary to select 5W-30 and 5W-40. The total volume that should be poured into the engine is 5 liters.

BMW W20K06U0 power units require an oil change every 10,000 kilometers. Naturally, this figure is somewhat less at the factory – 5-7,5 thousand kilometers, and the maximum mileage is 15 thousand kilometers. Many people are interested in the consumption of grease used by the engine. This figure is up to 700 grams per thousand kilometers of mileage. The state of the oil should be monitored from time to time, because if it runs out, then some component parts of the machine associated with the supply of lubricant to the engine can fail. As a result, even the engine may jam.

What faults can occur with the motor

In principle, the engine W20K06U0 BMW is not problematic, but if the car owner does not look after the condition of his vehicle, the motor can fail. Thus, the following breakdowns are often encountered:

• The cylindrical blocks crack together with the head bolt connecting them and the cooling jacket cavity (this eventually affects the antifreeze leakage);
• Emulsion in the engine oil fluid occurs, which eventually causes the power unit to wear out faster;
• floating rpm at idle (the problem is more or less standard and quite easy to solve, related to incorrect operation of each valve);
• vibration of the power unit (can occur due to worn out injectors, i.e. the wrong ratio of air and gasoline enters the system, which destroys the dynamic parameters of the engine);
• broken air flow meter (occurs due to delayed transfer of the fuel-air mixture to the corresponding pumps);
• failure of electronics at overly powerful loads (since the engine is considered to be additional and capable of working also on electric battery charge, it is better to buy an additional generator station to go further).

Also, you should not forget about the fact that you should change the oil fluid more often, because in cars BMW engines like a “clean” mixture.

Is it advisable to buy BMW cars with this engine?

Developers and many auto mechanics believe that buying a 2013 BMW with this engine is not the coolest idea. The fact is that with power units before this year, you can get into several troubles related to the recoil of the oil fluid. That is, when the mileage of the car is more than a hundred thousand kilometers, it means that it can experience such a process as jamming. The car owner will simply have to carry out a major overhaul of the motor. But those cars that are released after 2014 are great. So, motors can break down only from the fact that they are given an increased load, as well as from aggressive driving.

Chip tuning

One of the simplest methods of raising the power of the power unit from 245 to 280 or more horsepower is the use of re-flashing. That is, on new cars apply the classic type of chip tuning, but if the car owner wants to increase power not by 10 standard percent, then it will have to change the intercooler, replace the exhaust and cold intake system. Without physical intervention in these motors definitely can not do without, since the new modification simply will not allow the engine to be re-flashed, otherwise it will lead to simple and rapid wear.

Bottom line

Engines of this family are really used by car owners today. The only disadvantage is the process of recharging the battery, because after driving 100 thousand kilometers it will be necessary to look for a recharging station or pour fuel – gasoline into the generator system. Thus, the German Concorde really became famous when it created the BMW i3 powertrain, which is not only contract, but also has excellent, qualitative and technical features. Among the pluses we can emphasize the special power, the indicators of which range from 170 to 184 horsepower, which is a lot, as well as the possibility of using gasoline and driving on it, the small volume of the motor as a whole – 0.6 liters.

This engine is installed on the following models:

BMW i3 BMW i3 (I01)