BMW has announced that it wants to bring its TwinPower turbo technology to smaller displacement engines, including 4-cylinder and 3-cylinder power plants. The technology debuted back in 2009 on the 3.0 liter inline six-cylinder gasoline unit fitted to the 5-Series GT. The technology is also used on other models and larger displacement power plants.

TwinPower technology features twin-scroll turbocharging coupled with direct-injection and variable valve management (Valvetronic system) that delivers greater output and efficiency from a smaller engine. A few months ago in January 2011, BMW introduced the X1 xDrive28i with a new 2.0 liter turbocharged engine featuring the TwinPower turbo system. In this application, the power plant has an output of 242 bhp and 350 Nm of torque. The all-wheel drive X1 xDrive28i returns a fuel-economy figure of 7.9 liters/100 km on the EU test cycle. There has been rumours that BMW is developing a 3-cylinder engine, which it now says will also get TwinPower technology. These 3-cylinder engines will power the next-generation MINI as well as new entry-level compact BMWs. BMW has plans for both diesel and petrol 3-cylinder and 4-cylinder units as its highest volume engine groups.

Among German automakers, it looks like BMW is taking the direction of downsizing to a whole new level. I just hope that the 3 cylinder power plants will not have any vibration issue.