Quote:
Originally Posted by Dylan86
B58, agree 100%, S58 "across 3/4/x3/x4" I can't say I've ever seen such a thing.
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Although it is clear now that you were confusing M vehicles with series vehicles, it is worth commenting with regard to the above. While it is true that BMW has not done this - shared M engines with non-M vehicles (Z8 being the only exception I'm aware of, and that vehicle was largely developed by M Division I believe) - there are actually opportunities in this area that they could choose to exploit in the future. As I mentioned earlier, VAG is already sharing their high output 6 cylinder - in their case, the 2.9L TT V6 - across multiple products. In the lower segments the engine is the top of the line, high performance offering. However, in the more premium segments, it is simply the mid-range engine. Mercedes is about to do the same thing with their brand new M256 inline six cylinder.
BMW could choose to do this in the future with the S58. Not for the non-M 3/4/X3/X4/Z4, no, but in the larger M Performance vehicles it actually could happen at some point. I'm not saying that they will go this route, but as I said in my earlier post, turbocharged engines are versatile. And since specs are often king, it wouldn't necessarily be an unattractive proposition to use a ~500hp S58 instead of a ~450hp N63 in some applications. Sure, they could tune the N63 to 500hp instead (and indeed they probably will do that too soon), but at some point the lighter and potentially more efficient six cylinder starts to become the better choice to meet market demands. So what I am saying is, don't rule out seeing the S58 or something similar (a twin turbo inline six making up to 500hp) in the 5/6/7/8/X5/X6/X7/X8 in the future.