When the N20 was announced, it was accompanied by a flurry of official interviews and articles in the automotive press that said, to combine and paraphrase:
'The N20 is the first of a new modular engine design that will also be used in new inline-3 and inline-6 engines. Also possibly inline-2 engines but if we use them it will only be as generators in hybrid-electric cars. We have been testing these engines in naturally aspirated, twin scroll turbocharged, and twin sequential turbocharged variants. The N20 is replacing our 28i engines but to replace our 35i engines we're not sure yet if we'll continue using an inline-6 or a sequential turbo I4 we've been testing that can produce about as much power as the current 35i model. Separate from this new modular engine design we are also designing a new V8 engine.'
So... what happened with all this exciting news they unleashed on us? Where are the engines? It has been confirmed that the F8X won't be delivered until late 2013 at the earliest, but all the rumors and speculation are based on it using a modification of the N54 or N55 engine? 1.5 years from now it is not conceivable that BMW would be using an engine based on this new modular design used in the N20? When exactly are these engine going to come out?
