To further improve exhaust emission quality and comply with the forthcoming EU 2 regulations, BMW Motorrad is introducing dual ignition on its 2003 range of boxer-engine machines.

Models affected will be the R1100 S, R1150 GS, R1150 R, R1150 RS and R1150 RT. The changeover in production has already begun and will be incorporated on a model-by-model basis. Implementation will be complete by the beginning of 2003.

The emissions improvement measure is designed to prepare engines for new exhaust emissions legislation set out in EU 2 and (in future) EU 3. The lead that BMW Motorrad enjoys in the area of emissions control will be increased further when the new conversion is complete.

The effect of a dual ignition system is to improve the uniformity of combustion throughout the engine’s operating range – even in unfavourable conditions. Dual ignition represents a solution to the fundamental conflict between the need for the lowest possible emission of pollutants and smooth running – particularly evident in large capacity engines. As a bonus, the efficiency of the boxer engines has been further increased, with a slight reduction in fuel consumption. Engine power output peak values and torque remain the same for all models.

The dual ignition system for combustion engines has existed for many years and BMW has a long tradition of applying such systems to aircraft engines. The technical principle is simple – instead of a solitary spark plug in the combustion chamber to ignite the mixture, two are now employed and the plugs spark in parallel. The system requires an additional bore in the cylinder head for the second spark plug as well as a more powerful ignition system capable of providing the extra energy needed to create a second ignition spark.

All engines that are fitted with dual ignition will have a redesigned cover for the plug shaft, with "2-spark" lettering on it.

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