BMW took home four awards at the 2012 International Engine of the Year Awards, the automaker announced. A pair of four-cylinder engines, a straight-six and an eight-cylinder motor took home the hardware, making the German manufacturer a winner in half of the eight displacement categories. Winning was the 1.6-litre turbocharged engine in the Mini Cooper S, the four-banger that runs the 328i and several other models, the 1 Series M Coupe’s straight-six and the V8 out of the M3.
Seventy-six auto journalists from around the world chose the winners during the Stuttgart Engine Expo. Bavarian Motor Works was quick to point out that it has 50 pieces of hardware on its shelves collected from the award show dating back to 1999. Its winning engines from this year range in power output from 184 to 420hp.
The 1.4—1.8 liter displacement class was won by the Mini S engine for the second consecutive year. A twin-scroll snail with direct petrol injection and variable valve control allows the motor to lay down 184 horsepower from the factory.
BMW’s new 2.0 engine featuring the company’s TwinPower Turbo tech was also declared a winner. The 245-horsepower engine snagged the win in the 1.8—2.0 liter category. In addition to the 328i, it can also be found under the hood of the 528i, the Z4, the sDrive28i, the X3 xDrive28i and the X1 xDrive28i.
Over in the 2.5—3.0 liter competition, the six-cylinder in-line Beemer engine won out. The 3.0 liter unit is mated to a pair of turbos and features High Precision Injection and Double-VANOS. Now putting down a factory-rated 340 ponies, the engine previously won the overall prize for Engine of the Year in ’07 and ’08.
Finally, there was the big boy. Winning for a ridiculous fifth time in a row was the V8 out of the famed M3 in the 3.0—4.0 class. The naturally aspirated beast boasts 420 horsepower.