Originally Posted by MtViewGuy88
By the way, from reading the April 2005 issue of Motor Trend, I have a hunch that the 3.0-liter "low tech" I-6 that will be on the E90 3-Series for the North American market could be built similar to what BMW did with the 2.7-liter I-6 eta engine from the 1980's--higher than normal compression ratio and special engine computer programming for more emphasis on fuel economy than performance. My educated guess on fuel economy per EPA rating: 24 mpg city, 34 mpg highway, similar to what Honda did with the K24 2.4-liter I-4 engine used on the Honda Accord.
well it's not. it wont have the trick head (ala valvotronic) and thus it will lack the electronics that control valvotronic.
the e90 330i is rated at 21/31 so 24/34 is not out of the question but with 40hp less it's not that hard. lastly bmw will most likely "tune" the performance with rear end diffy ratio rather than what you suggest. why do i say this? because that is what they've been doing for the past 10 years. aka e36, e46, e39, etc.