Maybe Serpens, klier or other members who are familiar with ICE technology can comment on that articel?
Kommt es zu einer Kooperation im Antriebsbereich zwischen Mercedes und BMW? Ab 2027 will Mercedes 4-Zylinder von BMW beziehen
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Installing a BMW 4-cylinder engine in the inventor of the automobile? So far, Mercedes engines have caused a sensation (in a positive sense) in long-term tests (C 180 W204) at around 600,000 km and the A-Class W176 at around 400,000 km. There has been no such test with a BMW.
The question that arises is the actual reason. At Mercedes, all engines are currently brand new (except for the new V8 coming soon).
The M252 was developed by Mercedes and is produced by Aurobay in China. It is used in all MMA hybrid derivatives and is said to be so efficient that customers in the MMA models (CLA, GLA, GLB) will not miss diesel (according to Mercedes-Benz).
The M254 4-cylinder gasoline engine for the C-Class, E-Class, GLC, and GLE (in America and China) dates from 2020. It has therefore only been on the market for five years.
The OM654 was introduced with the W213 in 2016 and was fundamentally redesigned (OM654M) with the introduction of the new C-Class W206 in 2021.
The M256M and OM656M R6 gasoline and diesel engines are also top-of-the-line (state-of-the-art) power units.
From a technical point of view, it is therefore surprising to switch to a BMW engine. The Mercedes engines have been developed, and the development costs have probably not yet been completely written off. What would be the advantage?
The situation is different at BMW. Their gasoline 4-cylinder B48 engine dates back to 2014, making it significantly older than Mercedes' engine. BMW has always stated that it intends to develop a new engine family because it wants to continue using combustion engines. The question is whether this is a nice story or whether they were required by law to develop a new family, as the B48, which is over 10 years old, might not have easily met the EU7 standard.
On the other hand, BMW is set to introduce prechamber ignition in its new generation of engines. Mercedes has been familiar with this technology for a long time (since 2014), but only in its highly successful Formula 1 engines. There, it has helped the team win numerous world championship titles. While other manufacturers had to lift and coast, Mercedes drivers were able to stay on the gas and fully exploit the power, as the maximum fuel limit was 100 kg per race (efficient and powerful engines therefore had advantages).
Mercedes not only wants to source BMW's 4-cylinder engines from the Steyr plant in Austria, but also to build a joint engine plant in the US. In Tuscaloosa, GLC models will be manufactured alongside the GLS and GLE from 2027 with the GLC facelift. This means that one of the main engines will be the 4-cylinder gasoline engine (it is also sold in the US in the GLE 350). BMW also produces the X3, X5, and X7 in the US. Not only are cars exported to the US subject to 15% punitive tariffs, but so are parts delivered there (in this case, powertrains). Mercedes already had a cooperation with Nissan/Infiniti here. The M264 for Tuscaloosa was produced in their engine plant there.
The basic idea behind sharing fixed costs is easy to understand. But Mercedes actually spent these fixed costs (development costs for the brand-new Fame engine family) just a few years ago. Therefore, this step does not make sense at the current stage of the lifecycle for the current engines.
The cooperation between Mercedes and BMW is to be announced in the next 8 weeks (if the talks are successful). Normally, the IAA is always a good place to make such announcements.
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