Holy crap I hope this is not the case.........

Not sure how accurate this article is but it was something I read on Supraforums this morning.

BMW Partnership May Extend To Toyota SUV's

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I'll take the partnership straight 6 BMW motor over the 3.5L, that would lead to a possible turbo upgrade after factory warranty is expired.

Welp, there goes reliability and affordability.

Not sure about BMW-branded, but I wouldn't be against an Inline 6 in principle. There's been tons of reliable, indestructible I-6's in the past.

A non-turbo BMW I6... only available from Toyota... I can already hear the screaming over at Car and Driver.

The NA I6's I've known were solid, dependable engines for low end torque / truck use. None were fast. People complain the current 4.0 is too slow and not powerful enough... the wailing from C&D would easily be drowned out by the wailing from this forum!

The only question is, who might wail loudest? Those who want speed if they hear it's an NA I6, or those who want bulletproof dependability if they hear it has a turbo on it?

The Jeep I-6's were absolutely bullet proof until the very end where they apparently had some manufacturing issues. Plus they were very easy to work on - everything was right there and plenty of room.

I'm ok with this if the Toyota engineers sign off on it. They seem to know what they're doing.

I think this is unlikely. For a lot of reasons, but the primary one being production capacity. The Supra/Z4 are manufactured by a third party in Austria that I do not think has the realistic capacity to manufacture another 500,000 of these engines per year for the 4Runner/Tacoma/GX product line. Presumably the new unified platform means combined powertrain again with the Tacoma. BMW group's total sales of all vehicles is about 2 million per year. Toyota has far greater manufacturing capacity. Possibly they would license some engine designs and build them in house?

I also don't think it'll be a 6 cyl in the next 4runner if it's not the 3.5l. I think it's a lot more likely to be a turbo 4. All of the recent rumors have the next gen Tundra receiving the LS twin turbo 3.5L with a hybrid option. It seems far more likely to me that the next 4Runner will have a 2.4 turbo and possibly a hybrid option as the higher spec model.

I would not want anything to do with BMW engines. I like the specs, but they are not very reliable.

The engines themselves are actually pretty reliable. Their electronics and peripheral plastic parts suck.
I had that straight 6 e46. It’s was almost diesel like rock solid.


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The only reason why the Supra has a BMW engine is because it’s similar to the Z4. BMW never puts another manufacturer’s engine in their car. They put their engines in other manufacturers’ cars but historically it’s always been luxury or performance vehicles like Land Rover or McLaren

My co worker's 335xi made it to about 50k before the first rebuild. Second time it needed a top end... it was replaced with a Lexus. That's not uncommon. They're pretty notoriously unreliable.

BMW Engines Are Gigantic Pieces Of Shit

I'm surprised most here seem to be debating the I6 vs V6 aspect when (in my opinion) the real problem is the fact the 4Runner will become (if this does happen) less of a Toyota and more of something else (ie. mutt). Brand identity is supremely important these days. So is manufacturer/owner pride. So is rock solid dependability. For me, those items are more important than a few extra hp (in a truck no less). There seems to be a paradigm shift happening over at Toyota these days, and cars like the Zupra and Yaris are no longer Toyotas. And it seems this is just the beginning. If this ideology spreads to other important makes like the 4Runner, Tacoma etc...., the Toyota we all know and love and rely on is no longer really the same Toyota. Why not just buy from those other brands instead and cut out the middle man? In my case, I'm seriously considering switching over to another brand for my next vehicle. One that doesn't have an identity crisis and puts a higher value on legacy, pride, in house innovation instead of the all mighty dollar.

This is my take on it anyway.

I feel the same way. Just not sure what brand meets those requirements.

Literally every automobile manufacturer does this in some form or fashion.