BMW Wins Three Prestigious Awards
16 November 1998
BMW Wins Three Prestigious Awards
POPULAR SCIENCE Magazine Presents BMW With Two 'Best of What's New' Awards
1999 BMW 323i Sedan Wins Consumer's Digest's 'Best Buy of the Year'
WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J., Nov. 13 -- Today POPULAR SCIENCE
Magazine presented BMW of North America with two 1998 "Best of What's New"
awards for the all new 1999 BMW 3 Series sedans and a BMW technology
breakthrough, the crankshaft starter alternator.
Each year, POPULAR SCIENCE editors intensively research thousands of
products and developments in ten categories: Cars, Automotive Technology,
Science and Technology, Recreation, Computers and Software, Audio and Video,
Aviation and Space, Home Technology, Photography and Electronics. In each
category, a grand award winner is chosen, marking an extraordinary
achievement. The 1999 BMW 3 Series sedans were the grand award winner in the
Car category and the BMW crankshaft starter alternator won the grand award in
the Automotive Technology category.
"We are delighted to accept this prestigious award from the editors of
POPULAR SCIENCE magazine," stated Victor H. Doolan, President of BMW of North
America. "It is quite an honor to have won the grand award in both the Car
and Automotive Technology categories."
THE ALL NEW 1999 BMW 3 SERIES SEDAN
The 5th generation of a sports sedan concept that BMW has nurtured and
perfected for 32 years, the 1999 3 Series sedans incorporates the best
available technology with enhanced passenger and cargo space, elegant design
refinements and state-of-the-art safety technology. The 323i and 328i sedans
both have 6-cylinder engines and come standard with All Season Traction,
Cornering Brake Control and BMW's Head Protection System.
BMW'S CRANKSHAFT STARTER ALTERNATOR (CSA)
BMW was presented with a second "Best of What's New Award" for its
crankshaft starter alternator (CSA), a three-phase-current asynchronous
machine operating both as the starter and the alternator in a car. Integrated
in the engine/transmission block, this unique starter/alternator comes between
the engine and the transmission right on the crankshaft.
Compared with conventional designs based on a separate starter and
alternator, this new concept offers three significant benefits right from the
outset:
Quiet start-up. The starter no longer incorporates a mechanical unit
(starter pinion) required to fall in mesh. This means that the usual starter
noise is now a thing of the past.
Quick-start. The CSA quickly revs the engine up to high speeds and thus
reduces emissions in the starting phase, supplementing future concepts with
the aim to reduce emissions to the lowest possible level.
Economy. Operating at a higher level of efficiency, the crankshaft
starter alternator allows the engine to run in the stop-and-start mode without
the slightest problem, while at the same time generating a lot more alternator
power. This ensures a more than ample supply of power to other electrical
power consumers such as the electric brake system and the various ancillary
units in the car.
The crankshaft starter alternator (CSA) is a joint development with
ISAD-Systems, a specialist company in Cologne. Further partners in the
development process are Bosch and Siemens.
BMW tested the principle of a combined starter and power generator for the
first time as far back as 1933/34. Regular use of this technology proved
impossible back then due to the different operating and running requirements
(low speed when starting, high speed when generating power while the engine is
running), which proved impossible to solve with the technologies available 60
years ago.
The combined starter/power generator reached production level for the
first time with BMW in the BMW 700, known at the time as the Dynastart unit.
And indeed, the technology available in the '50s and '60s was quite sufficient
for the requirements of small engines. Since then BMW's engineers have looked
for a machine suitable for use in powerful, modern engines requiring qualities
of a higher standard. BMW experts were interested in increasing efficiencies
as well as reducing emissions and quieting the starter. Currently, the
starter is actually only required for a few seconds and then has to be
"dragged along" for hours and miles on end, without serving any purpose.
"We are very pleased with this latest technology breakthrough and are
confident our customers will be equally pleased with a quieter and even more
environmentally friendly BMW," said Vic Doolan, President of BMW of North
America, Inc. "The crankshaft alternator will likely be used in BMW cars
after the year 2000."
Information about BMW products is available to consumers via the World
Wide Web on the BMW homepage. The address is http://www.bmwusa.com.