BMW Already Testing 1-Series Compact Models with its New Three-cylinder 1.5-liter Engines

As we were looking for pictures the other day for our story on the availability of the BMW Group's new 1.5-liter TwinPower Turbo engines in the United States and Canada, we discovered images of a prototype of the 1-Series five-door hatchback fitted with this powerplant on the company's website.

To date, while BMW has set the market introduction of the 1.5-liter TwinPower Turbo engine in diesel and petrol forms for 2013, it has only confirmed the i8 sports coupe and the i3 supermini gasoline-electric hybrids as the recipients of the three-cylinder units.

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BMW Group to Add New 1.5-liter Turbocharged 3-Cylinder Engine to U.S. Lineup

Downsizing is the road taken by most automakers in their effort to meet new fuel consumption and emission standards, and three-cylinders with forced induction are the new trend.

Ford will offer a 122HP 1.0-liter three-cylinder EcoBoost engine in the Mondeo mid-size family car and BMW has already revealed a 1.5-liter turbocharged three-cylinder engine that is part of the new TwinPower “family”.

On the sidelines of the Paris Auto Show, BMW sales and marketing boss Ian Robertson told reporters that the new 1.5-liter engine, which was displayed on the Active Hybrid Concept, “behaves like a six-cylinder, is half-of a six-cylinder and has the noise of a six-cylinder”.

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Scoop: New BMW i8 Hybrid Sports Coupe Affords us our first View of its Interior

Whichever way you look at it, the upcoming i8 coupe is no doubt the most innovative BMW sports car of recent times, and all for good reason as the Bavarian automaker is making every effort to impress, from the plug-in hybrid powertrain to the extensive use of lightweight materials throughout.

As BMW intensifies testing across Europe, our spies are getting closer to the prototypes and this time, they were able to take a couple of shots of the interior.

While the exterior styling of the production model is modeled after the second concept version of the i8 with changes to certain details like the door handles, headlamps and bumpers (the taillights are not real on this model), the interior is completely different.

Unless the German brand has fitted the test car with a fake interior, the styling of the dashboard is in line with other BMW products replacing the i8 Concept's futuristic looking digital instrument panel with a conventional four-gauge layout and obtaining a large center console tilted towards the driver.

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