Big engines are on their way out. Carmakers left and right are beginning to eliminate high-displacement motors in favor of smaller turbocharged or hybrid units in the name of greater fuel efficiency and emissions compliance. Audi recently revealed the 12-cylinder engine in the A8 would be the company's last, while Mercedes-AMG revealed it would be phasing out its V-12 engine in the near future. It seems BMW's V-12 is safe... for now, anyway.

Pictured above: the BMW M760i, the brand's only V-12 powered car, in pre-facelift guise.

Top Gear spoke to BMW powertrain Development head Michael Bayer about the future of the company's 6.6-liter twin-turbo unit, and he gave a reassuring response.

“We will keep [the V-12] for the rest of this generation at least, until 2023,” Bayer told Top Gear. He went on to say it might be possible to engineer the motor to be compliant with new emissions laws after 2023, but it would be difficult. Though, considering demand, it might be worth the effort. Thanks to customers in the Middle East and China, the V-12 has been flying off the shelves.

BMW

“Since we revealed [the V-12-powered M760i], we have been at maximum capacity building these engines,” BMW 7-Series product chief Christian Metzger told Top Gear. China's tax laws don't favor larger-displacement engines, but it seems buyers are willing to pay the extra fees if it means having a bigger engine than the person next to them in traffic. Even if it only gets from 0-60 mph just 0.3 seconds faster than its V-8 sibling.

BMW's V-12 will inevitably go the way of the Dodo, but whether it'll be in four years or sometime after that has yet to be determined. We're hoping for the latter.

This content is imported from {embed-name}. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io