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“More powerful engines cannot even match
the beautifully balanced Bavarian V8”
Jeroen Jongeneel, De Telegraaf
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Throughout the 10-year history of the International
Engine of the Year Awards, there has been only one occasion
– last year – when BMW
did not top this category. After Porsche’s triumph with
its 3.6-litre Turbo in 2007, a rather special motor from BMW
has arrived on the scene and taken the trophy back to its spiritual
home of Munich.
The victor here is the replacement for one of the International
Engine
of the Year Awards’ most successful winners, the 3.2-litre
straight six that was designed for the E46 M3, and that lives
on today in BMW’s Z4 M. For the 2007MY M3, Helmut Himmel,
the man responsible for all M engine project management, decided
early on that the car would be powered
by an eight-cylinder unit. The result, S85B40, is a lesson in
advanced engine engineering, both in terms of the materials
used and production technologies adopted, as well as an ECU
that can process more than 200 million calculations a second
via three onboard microchips.
This upgraded version of the
ECU found on the award-winning
V10 in BMW’s M5 and M6 is just one example of how the
V8 offers even more technology than its bigger brother. Double
VANOS continuously variable intake and exhaust cam adjustment
has been carried over, although it requires no high pressure
oil arrangement due to lower torque stresses. The V10’s
single chain drive is superseded by a double chain affair connecting
the crankshaft and sprocket, which is connected to the camshaft
by a step motor.
The 3,999cc engine is also a masterpiece in terms of packaging.
Although it carries an additional two cylinders, the V8 tips
the scales at 2kg less than the old M3 six-cylinder, and is
over 30mm shorter.
But power is arguably the biggest marker of a true M3 unit,
and the
V8 does not disappoint. Figures of 420bhp at 8,300rpm and 340Nm
of torque help the M3 to lap the legendary Nordschleife in eight
minutes and 20 seconds. |
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