This brief addresses the model-based control of the air path of diesel engines in terms of an optimal control problem with input constraints which can be solved using model predictive algorithms. A multilinear model identified from data and a switched controller design are used to cope with the nonlinearity of the engine. Experimental results on a production engine confirm that the proposed control method strongly improves the dynamics of the air path and enormously reduces the parameterization work if compared with the conventional approach. To obtain improvements in emissions as well, the new controller approach cannot simply be plugged in at the site of the conventional one, but new set points must be determined. After such a redesign, improvements of 50% in terms of nitrogen oxides and of 10% in terms of particulate matter have been recorded without a net consumption increase, the main price being the increased activity of the turbocharger vane and especially of the exhaust gas recirculation valve. © 2007 IEEE.