It’s a known fact that a lot of people have been complaining about the sound of the new S55 3-liter inline 6-cylinder engine from BMW that has been stuck under the bonnet of the new M3 and M4 models. However, most of them are disappointed because they are comparing it to its predecessor, the S65 mill.
To be more precise, the disappointment comes from the different architectures. That’s because the S65 is a 4-liter V8 and not an inline 6-cylinder plant. That also means it will make a really different sound.
Therefore a comparison between them is not really what you’re supposed to do, especially in this regard. We have to look at a different plant and see how they stack up, preferably also an inline 6-cylinder motor.
Fortunately, before the E9x models, BMW used only this architecture for its M3 cars. Therefore, we have the S50 (S52 for US and Canada) and S54 plants to use as reference and there are plenty of them out there.
In the video below, we have our friend Berlin Tomek testing out a BMW E36 M3 on Turkish highways and along with it, its 3.2-liter naturally aspirated inline 6-cylinder engine also known as S50B32 internally.
We won’t say anything about the sound and we’ll let you discuss if it’s better sounding or not compared to the M3 and M4 models we have today. However, we have to mention the difference in performance.
This plant used to make 321 HP and 350 Nm (258 lb-ft) of torque, revving up to 7,600 RPM and using just the usual amount of air and gas an atmospheric engine could. Coincidence or not, the S55 plant in the new models revs up to the same RPM but has two turbochargers attached to it that churn out 431 HP and 550 Nm (406 lb-ft) of torque. That’s enough to improve the sprint to 100 km/h (62 mph) by 1.1 seconds in between generations. Now about that sound...
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