BMW->ke178 has been working on a 3-cylinder variant of its Twin-Power engines for quite a while now and we have all been a little skeptical on a BMW 3-banger. Rightfully so, we must say, as the only 3-cylinder engine that really sticks in our minds is the 60-something horsepower over-sized paperweight that GM used in the Metro many years ago. If you owned one of these, you know exactly what we’re talking about.

Then again, this is BMW we’re talking about and this is the era of low-displacement-high-horsepower engines, so our hopes remain high for this Bimmer->ke178 3-pot. Well, we can finally put to rest part of the mystery behind this new engine, as BMW has just released some basic info on this line of engines.

BMW plans to release the 3-cylinder models in both gasoline and diesel power and the lineup will begin with the 1.5-liter unit that we expect to see in the Concept Active Tourer. These engines will all boast BMW’s now-famed Twin-Power technology, which introduces the power of twin turbochargers with only one twin-scroll blower.

Per the report, these 3-cylinder engines will boast between 120 horsepower and 220 horsepower, the latter we expect to see in the upcoming i8->ke3915, and between 133 and 177 pound-feet of torque when being fed gasoline. The diesel variants will feature between 80 and 180 horsepower, and 165 and 243 pound-feet of torque. From what we are seeing here, these engines will be very impressive from top to bottom; even the 80-horsepower diesel will feature a high level of torque to get it moving.

One thing that may concern buyers is the cost of producing these engines, but BMW is countering this by engineering them so like-fueled engines share 60 percent of their components and even the gas and diesel models share 40 percent of their components with one another. This helps lower the cost of production, thereby lowering the engine’s impact on your wallet.

Another part that will lighten the load on your wallet is these engines’ fuel economy, but BMW has yet to release that information. We’ll keep an eye out for that.

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