ayee I'm glad to see visio doing a deep dive into the s54, a truely underated masterpiece of an engine that pushed the limits of physic and engineering. I've been obsessed for 6+ years but recently started consuming all the s54 content available so this is really a great treat!
@@posniknelb6114 Maybe stock, but show me an s54 that makes as much power NA or sounds as good as this: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-EFszZ3tB-g0.html
Agreed, so does the M88 (M1 engine)for that matter. I also don't agree with the "it's the best 6 cylinder bmw ever produced" at all for that matter. It was amazing for its time but that's really looking at it through nostalgia tinted glasses.
As an owner of 3 S54's, I absolutely love them I rebuilt all of them, bought them for pennies with a rod knock, new crank, rods, WPC treated cranks there super reliable, NA is the way to keep them, if you want more power N54 is the way to go.
The N54 is pretty damn good. Are you wanting 700+ from the N54? Fueling is the first obstacle. Second is airflow in and out of the engine and that includes head work because N54 heads are really bad for airflow, but they can handle 8000 RPM.
We had an bone stock s54 e46 which was used by the black falcon team in VLN Racing. The car had 120tkm only racetrack and the engine was never opend. i think with proper use you dont even have problems with the bearings.
Another fantastic video, the daughter of a friend of my dad's had a BMW (He didn't give me any specifics) but he did tell me because she didn't drive it hard, the underside of the cam cover got covered in oil!
As an owner of an E46 M3, I can attest that the S54 is a special engine. It sounds great and it's smooth all the way to the redline. The VANOS solenoids sometimes fail, but VANOS has other more significant problems, the exhaust hub and the seals as well as the camshaft hub bolts. If the exhaust hub fails, it can destroy the engine. These problems can be relatively inexpensively prevented.
Interesting, at 1:17 he shows an M3 accelerating hard on a mountain road in Victoria, Australia. Possibly Gippsland or the Dandenong ranges judging by the big trees..
This made me miss my M3 so much... it's been 3 years since I last saw it.... its still sitting waiting for me to come back in my storage... Being stationed overseas sucks T-T
It's how BMW acknowledges when an engine consumes a ton of oil, but does nothing to fix it. The F10 M5 engine has the same issue, with BMW just saying "oh, just add more oil."
Ive ridden the 330i and ,and it is a real nice sounding engine, has a nice curve to it powerwise. But so expensive, maintenance wise. It blew up at 227k km . Such a shame That my dad mistreated the car like That :(
My bet is on Volkswagen Engines. Like the EA211 and the EA888. They are everywhere. Audis, VWs, Skodas, Seats and so on. There are millions and millions of these Engines on European Roads.
You got most of it right, only it's an "ae", not "ah", when pronouncing "scarce". IDK why, it violates the common English rule. Otherwise, great video!
You forgot to mention the S52/S54 was based off the Mclearen F1 V12, its basically exactly half the engine. If you watch on board videos of the F1 it has a very familiar induction noise similar to an S54 with a carbon air box. 😎
It really hurts that the E92 went to V8. It would have been amazing if instead it was a ground up designed all aluminum 3.8L 400hp straight 6 with ITB’s and maybe even dry sump for packaging purposes. Then the F10 M5 could have used a twin turbo version of that motor for over 500hp.
@@mrsam5350 Perhaps. Yet, even with a modified 2JZ, arguably the higher horsepower versions will have more problems, unless someone has poured cash into them.
I stole one of them last year I got an e46 m3 with extra hardtop and spare wheel set and valve adjustment tools with shims for $11k I’m still orgasming every time i drive it
S54 lacks torque/poorly matched to the body. You have to rev the snot out of it to get it going. Drop it in an e36 M3 and now you’ve got something. I’ve had every iteration of the M3 and the e46 was my least favorite. Just my opinion.
I agree that the engine doesn't feel like it was matched well to the E46 body. 269 lb/f just doesn't feel very impressive in a 3500 lb car. The cars are still fast because of the wide power band and high redline, but they're not especially fun to drive in my opinion. On a side note, I have to say that I disagree that the S54 has to be revved up to make power. They have a super flat torque curve and the torque surges at just over 3000rpm and stays strong until redline - very impressive for its time.
Mozem len potvrdit,ze je to naprosto uzasny motor. Uz davno co som predal tuto e46-ku a dodnes to povazujem za velmi velku chybu. Zial nebolo kde garazovat,tak musela ist. 😢
6:50 My question to BMW: In what world is it "fine" for a road car engine to consume 1.5 liters of oil per 1000km? Sure, the engine is powerful, but it's not an F1 engine, and it doesn't even have forced induction. 100 horsepower per liter isn't uncommon these days either.
"These days" as you say. But you have to put in context that this engine was sold 2 decades earlier ! And its predecessor a decade more ! The S50b32 was the first road engine to reach 100hp per liter 🫡
@@laurentbruneel9382 Well I'm not a car expert, so I don't know for sure, but I still don't believe that kind of oil consumption would've been generally accepted even back in the day.
@@Tuppoo94 It is. Close to every high revving Engines are consuming massives amounts of oil when they are at high engine speeds, like 7000+ rpms. And also keep in Mind, that BMW is claiming these Numbers because they know that an M3 is not your average grocery getter which chills at 1500-2500 RPM for most of its life but more likely gets beaten the crap out of it.
You're right, this kind of oil consumption seems exaggerated. I had an S50 and it burned strictly no oil. Maybe one thing to consider remarkable for this engine is its high revving abilities according to its long stroke. Compared to others high revving engines of this era like Honda or Ferrari, torque delivery in mid range is way better. And this undersquare characteristics could explain the stress and wear that rod bearings suffer from.
Unmatched xD Are you kidding me? Maybe in europe. This car is a very overrated pos. Heavy as a boat, handles like crap, crappy interior, no potential. Yes, compared to fiat punto or peugeot 206 it is a rocket, but compared to other sport cars it`s a bmw.
To be honest with you VisioRacer, BMW never really made reliable engine. Majority of them suffer major issues like oil leaks, failing gaskets, overheat, failing timing chains, seizures, rod knock,oil starvation etc etc. Take any petrol Honda, Toyota engine in comparison with BMW. Not even close... unfortunately.
That's true, BMW cut alot of corners for the sake of cost mainly with plastic components that warped/cracked over time. Currently own many BMWs including S54 but also Toyota's, have to agree Toyota and Honda have some excellent engines
Yes it is a great motor, I mostly rebuilt one and put it in an e36. I have been using Redline oil and Ceratec, and it is a low oil consumer. I did have one oil analysis and it was excellent. I have shimmed it twice, and early but it shows no major wear. I am not properly geared for it with a 3.23 diff but that's ok I drive it to track days. I may change to a 3.46 or drop it to a lower value so I can use 2nd gear more, otherwise I will be using 3 and 4 mostly. The ratios are the same for the ZF until overdrive with the 6.
@@samthing4thetrack806 My first car wos a ///M3 e30 i wos 18 and my Father say to me boy you are young you can only buy 4 zylinder. That time i find a e28 ///M5 and want that car sooo much but i took the e30.. Now this cars costs over 100 000 + and i had no one... Shit happens. The e30 ///M3 i destroy completely in a Race... 😪😪😪
I wouldn't say there's a lack of a successor, I'd argue the Current going B58 with its potential to reach 1000hp with Forged parts is worthy. And best part, you can afford one in the 140i and 240i
I think with the availability of cross flow heads and cheap turbo kits I'd rather have a built ford 300 that will just run no matter what instead of an engine I have to treat like a basket full of eggs
Totally agree, I own S54 & M54 & M52 & N54, I use them all hard, on the road and track/drift, the S54 is great but too finnecky, M52 & M54 are great in all respects apart from power. The N54 is something I'm working with ATM to get to a reliable state of high power, but fingers crossed it always works well (apart from too many sensors/BMW parameters causing issues) The M52/54 is the sweet spot
Man I wish the E46 was cheaper over here in latin america, Over here the E90s are much cheaper for some reason. Great video, How much is it for a E46 over there in Europe.
There are so many N/A engines that are better, hell BMW themselves have made better N/A engines. In particular the E92 M3 with the S65 comes to mind although the S38 & S52 are solid too. Sounds way better, weighs less, better throttle response, more power, etc.
Sorry - nothing in my mind is better than a S38B38 (in BMW world)- an engine family (M88) that was used in actual racing vs an engine that was only really used in road cars, had problems with oil consumption, rod bearings etc - the S38 had none of the issues the S54 had (S38 was a very dependable engine), made more torque and imo better sound.