550isport

When I drove the M3 three weeks ago, I noticed the ample low end torque and thought...

If the new M3's V8 is basically the V10 less two cylinders, how did the engine gurus at M figure out how to move the peak torque down to a usable 3900 rpms while still keeping an 8400 rpm limit WHILE STILL providing a higher specific output of 103.5 hp/liter? The V10's peak torque of 383 lb./ft hits at a lofty 6100 rpm. The only thing seemingly in the V10s favor is that it produces 76.6 lbs. ft. of torque per litre to the V8's 73.75? But I'm very confident that the majority of M5/6 buyers would opt for a V10 adjusted to the M3's figures with peak torque of 367 lb. ft. at 3900 rpms and 518 bhp.

Sorry for all the numbers, but it is interesting to quantify what you like about one BMW's power delivery and dislike about another. The high peak torque of the V10 makes you nail the gas and rev past 6500 rpms to feel the true thrust of the car. You M5/6 owners must agree that if you do this in two gears from a stop light, or in one gear after downshifting on the highway, you've most certainly reached very illegal speeds here in the US and A. I think the M3's V8 can be enjoyed at lower road speeds without any sacrifice in high revving race track power.

Just wanted to see if anyone else noticed this difference. ?

DRP

BetterMakeWay

well the V8 is not just a two cylinder cutout of the V10 as many would think, many components are brand new for that matter, rebalanced for the internal vibrations of the V8, and remember that the F1 engines are also V8 and probably much of the know how is translated here. Remember this engine is capable of delivering more than half of the F1 engine (true that almost double the capacity) but has to last "for a lifetime" not just two races.

Perhaps there is something to do with the internals of the V8,bore & stroke that allows the engine to give this output. I dunno maybe others will better explain...

colejl

The V8 is quite different to the V10 - indeed, I suspect the features and technology deployed on the V8 will be carried over to the V10 in the next generation M5 (F10). I'm guessing but at least 550hp will be liberated...

MiamiPhill

I'm not so confident they would, using your numbers: @ 6100rpm the M5/M6 makes 445hp [(383 x 6100)/5252=445]
@ 3900rpm the M5/M6 would make only 284hp [ (383 x 3900)/5252=284]
That would mean a lot more shifting and a lot less speed even though it may FEEL faster to your butt.!

JetBlack5OC

I use to believe that too.

But it is the same motor with two cylinders cut off.

M5board with Steve Dinan talking about a future stroker V8 for the M3 that is basically the M5/M6 stroker V10 with 2 cylinders knocked off.

Steve Dinan says the internals are all the same, so the M3 V8 stroker kit will be developed quickly, unlike the M5 V10 that took two years. A 520 hp stroker M3 V8, WOW!!!!

Steve Dinan quote, "Its exactly the same motor with two cylinders missing."

Watch this video:

BMWPower06

Keep in mind that the ///M V8 has one major draw back, it makes its peak horsepower at 8300rpm, just 100rpm shy of the redline, so its really not as usuable as you'd like. Hopefully dinan or someone will come out with software to raise the rev limiter from 8400 to atleast 8600 or 8700, so that you could actually use that top end power

Richard in NC

My guess is the difference between the V8 & V10 comes down to engine tuning. Either motor could probably be tuned to behave like the other but if the M3 V8 sacrificed a little low end torque/power for more high end, it might feel too weak at low RPMs. Conversely the high end kick of the M5 is special and would be missed if not there. There is always a trade off for the feel.

The kick you get from the V10 at high revs is great but I prefer a looong strong pull even though it might lose a bit of high end HP. The V8 is better in my opinion because of that. That is why I loved the S62 in the E39 M5. The flat torque curve lasted from 2000 rpm to 6500 rpms. The 4.8 in the 550 is very similar but loses a bit at high RPMs.

Blaumann

Obviously a tuned 545i would still be far superior. Please read the following statements by a well known expert, translated from an Italian forum:

"M3 single caliper brakes are not adequate at all: it is definitely a lousy 3er and you can infer it from such details."

"4000 rpm at 90 mph, lol, I wonder the buzziness of that poor revvy engine kept at 4000 rpm for thousands of miles."

"The M5 hardly reaches 190 mph, therefore the M3, which has 2 cylinders and 100 HP less, will never get there."

"If I only wanted I could upgrade my car to make it go faster than airplanes. But you can't understand this, you have always driven cars with less than 200 HP."

"There isn't any bit in that M3 lemon that is superior to the corresponding one in my car. Each nut and bolt of my car is more prestigious, more expensive, more anything than that basic M3."

"As soon as I want I can make 0-125m mph in 12s, much better than what a leased M3 does measured with the stopwatch of a leased phone."

"To make that little M3 with that little V8 even more ridiculous I am retrofitting one of the few options that I did not have installed when I ordered the car . BMW says it can't be done but I have a different opinion. I will have to get half of the car disassembled but this is not an issue, I am going to visit the factory in Dingdolfing (where they build the 5-6-7er, not the 3er for the poors) and there I will see that the whole car is assembled by hand."

"After the new gears I will install new pipes. I will have to get the other half of the car disassembled but I can gain 20 HP and this will be enough to blow that poor M3 for travelling salesman out of the water."

BetterMakeWay

Some people have seeeerious issues

Anyway....jet i saw the video and indeed Mr. Dinan knows better but i pull that statement from my own hat. i remember it was somebody at BMW that said that...don't know where i saw that.

carlsturm

same internals maybe; but other factors influence torque curve too - even the exhaust