2007 BMW M3 V8 Engine Details
March 22, 2007 by Alborz Fallah
If you didn’t know already, BMW have given the most powerful production level six-cylinder engine in the world the flick, and have gone with a V8 engine in the upcoming BMW M3. Having to compete with the Audi RS4 is a hard job, a job which required BMW to switch over to a powerful German Engineered V8.
The new M3, (set to go on sale in Australia late 2007 early 2008) will be powered by a 300kW+ (420hp) V8 engine with peak torque of 400Nm.
Since BMW are one of the innovators of engine technology, designing a powerful V8 engine wasn’t going to be a simple job of giving it a little more capacity and hoping for the best.
The new V8 is only a 4.0L but it is derived from the all powerful 5.0L V10 engine used in the larger M5 and M6. The reason I have so much respect for the BMW engines is simple, you can rev this new V8 to 8,400rpm and it will still want more, try that in you brand new HSV and you’ll find out how long you’ll have to wait for the tow truck.
Of course, this is no Honda engine, so you won’t have to rev the guts out of it to get the power down. BMW claims that 85% of all this power will come from just 2,000rpm. The new M3 will do the 0-100km/hr dash in 4.4 seconds, with a top speed (electronically limited) of 260km/hr.
Expect to see the coupe model first, than the convertible and sedan.
A Dyno Graph of the BMW M3 Engine:
More details on the 2007 BMW M3 here
Print it: 
Being BMW it will no doubt be one of the worlds best engines if it is not voted “The best”. I think the RS4 is a particularly lovely piece of kit and I am looking forward to seeing what the new M3 is like.
I will point out however that you do not need to rev a 6.0 ltr HSV V8 to 8400 rpm to extract the peformance. It has significantly more torque than the BMW V8 and most of it is available from low revs. At a little over 6000 rpm in 5th you are doing over 270 kph so its all rather academic really. You can drive around town using 1st and 4th with ease. Ancient pushrods and two valves per cylinder and all…
A GM GENIV 6L will run on redline all day long no sweat.
If you remove the rev limiter it can also run well into the red zone with no issues.
I hope for BMW’s sake the quality has improved, otherwise its the BeeMers that will [and are] calling the tow-trucks
Lets see you service a BMW for less than $15O, LOL i think [know] NOT!
Good website, just keep the one-sided-opinion to yourself!
Hi OttoAu. You now risk a plethora of Camry drivers wanting to beat you to the ground claiming that they know more than you and that the Gen4 just ain’t no good. They won’t have owned or driven one but they will have a professional opinion that they expect you to take seriously. I have found that if you ignore them they go away.
Welcome aboard, Alborz has put together a good Blog, it’s worth your while dropping in from time to time.
What can you tell us about the recent issues with BMW’s, I would be interested to hear what you know. I have heard that Mercedes have their issues and I knew BMW did back in the 90’s but I hadn’t heard of it recently.
Personally, if I was in this market for a car I think I would go the Audi. They seem to screw them together very well, the RS4 looks sensational and all the road tests and most importantly TopGear think they are sensational.
Hahah I doubt the GM V8 which in the past has been known to be unreliable is going to survive long going into redline. Especially when considering pushrod engines are not fond of high revs, even these newer ones which have improved upon previous problems. So please dont talk shyte. Your friggin pushrod engine has nothing on the BMWs technoligically advanced one…. same power out of a 4L V8 lol
Hey OttoAu,
thanks for your comment, I agree that BMWs have suffered some reliability issues in the last few years, but you gotta remember why this is the case.
You have to understand that BMW/Merc try to push the boundaries of in car technology, they are the innovators of the latest technology. When the BMW 7 Series and the Mercedes S class get a life saving revolutionary feature (say.. air bags and ABS) this filters down to your home grown commodore and falcon in 10 years time.
But can you imagine Mercedes having a perfect ABS system on the first generation when it went out with the S class? Absolutely not! They had lots of problems and lots of recalls, same with all their other technologies, such as BMWs run-flat tyres.
What you have to realize is by pushing the limits and trying out new technologies, this greatly increases the cars complexity and hence more prone to failure. Compare this to your “ultra-reliable” Japaneses car (I love japanese cars – I own one!) – whilst some of the high end models tend to experiment, Japanese cars work on a principle of simplicity and efficiency. You won’t find a new useful technology in a brand new Honda Accord that you wouldn’t find in a BMW 3/5/7 series.
In regards to the service costs. Here is the thing, you are quite correct, you won’t be able to service a brand new BMW for less than $400,500 (even minor service).. BUT.. the service intervals are HUGE. Literally, into the 20,000kms bracket. That should give you some perspective!
I do love the raw power of a GenIV V8, but there is a reason it has a rev limiter, its not because HSV want you to slow down, its because its not safe for the engine to rev past that certain point.
The Germans are certainly innovative but you would like to think they could get it right with the premium prices people pay to drive their cars.
Having said that, most cars have various indiosyncratic issues, they are after all machines made up of many thousands of parts. That they have progressed to their current levels is in itself something to be amazed by.
The Gen4 is a little tougher than you give it credit for Alborz. Like many Japanese motors it needs virtually no internal modification to handle large increases in power (ie fitting a s/c)and minor modifications to handle higher revs although it does not require huge revs to make its power.
I agree Steane, the actual GM engine, in terms of reliability is a great engine, I was simply saying that the BMW engine is far more advanced,
I’ve added a dyno graph of the new V8 M3 engine to the end of this post, have a look at the power delivery :D
Absolutely it is more advanced and the figures are impressive. It will be a monster.
How did we come to the conclusion that the GM engine is reliable… its my understanding its a relatively new one, hardly withstood the test of time yet.
“I hope for BMW’s sake the quality has improved,”
Compared to the very high quality of Holden, which is seeing more recalls than the average Labrador.
“Lets see you service a BMW for less than $15O, LOL i think [know] NOT!”
None of the 3 Holdens i’ve owned in the last 5 years have had a service of less than $150, that includes one service being done on the side by a certified mechanic who lives on my estate. What’s your secret??? DIY?
Not to mention what you save on the service, you’ll probably loose:-
A) At the pump, 6.0L vs 4.0L.
B) Resale, What a joke, you could certainly pick up a bargin Holden SS-V on carsales.com.au. I can see right now a 2006 VE SS-V for $43K!!! I’m struggling to find a 2006 Golf GTI for that. LOL :)
“Compared to the very high quality of Holden, which is seeing more recalls than the average Labrador.”
I think most manufacturers have had their share of recalls. It only takes one parts supplier to let them down. From memory VW had to recall some Golfs last year, it is not unusual and not a real way to judge quality in my opinion.
None of the 3 Holdens i’ve owned in the last 5 years have had a service of less than $150, that includes one service being done on the side by a certified mechanic who lives on my estate. What’s your secret??? DIY?
I have regularly had my V8 HSV’s serviced for around $150.00. Not at a dealer (I refuse to go to dealers for anything but warranty work) but by my local mechanic who is not a back yarder (ex holden mechanic). Thats an oil and filter change and check over. Obviously major services cost more but not significantly more. If you live in Melbourne I’ll give you the details of my mechanic.
Not to mention what you save on the service, you’ll probably loose:-
A) At the pump, 6.0L vs 4.0L.
B) Resale, What a joke, you could certainly pick up a bargin Holden SS-V on carsales.com.au. I can see right now a 2006 VE SS-V for $43K!!! I’m struggling to find a 2006 Golf GTI for that. LOL
I doubt the M3 will be a fuel miser and the 6.0ltr Chev isn’t quite the guzzler people like to think either but I expect it would use more than the M3 in normal day to day driving.
You forgot to mention the apalling resale values of 5 and 7 series BMW’s…they are benchmark performers in this area. There are not many cars that resist depreciation. The GTI has to some extent but only because demand has exceeded supply. It will change. If you keep an M3 for for a few years you can kiss a good 50k+ goodbye..enough to buy a VE SS.
Having said all of that I’d give my right testical for a BMW M3. Go figure…
Steane, I think there would be a few people in germany who might take u up on that offer!
Excellent…hopefully they are blonde are called Helga or Heidi…and come through with the car!
“I think most manufacturers have had their share of recalls. It only takes one parts supplier to let them down.”
Agreed, But comparing the quality of Holden to BMW would have to be a joke. Even if we forget the Korean crap.
In regards to Fuel consumption, we’ll have to wait and see. I doubt very much anyone purchasing either car would care what the L/100 is. But i’d guess the combined ADR would be 15-20% better for the Beemer. We’ll have to poke Alborz to do some more research :)
This will also depend on BMW’s recent comments on the fuel quality down here:-
http://www.drive.com.au/
“You forgot to mention the apalling resale values of 5 and 7 series BMW’s”
We’ll just having a look a carsales and making a quick comparison on just the 525i, because theres more sales data. And i’m seeing 10% Per year depreciation. Which is way less than the 20%+ I was seeing for the SS-V. Which stands to reason when you consider the supply and demand.
“Having said all of that I’d give my right testical for a BMW M3.”
Then that definately makes 2 of us :)
No news on fuel consumption figures yet guys
but here are some for the current M3/M5/M6
M6 :
Fuel Consumption Urban 22.8L/100km
Fuel Consumption Extra Urban 10.7L/100km
Fuel Consumption Combined (ADR 81/01) 15.2L/100km
M5:
Fuel Consumption Urban 22.7L/100km
Fuel Consumption Extra Urban 10.2L/100km
Fuel Consumption Combined (ADR 81/01) 14.8L/100km
2006 six cylinder M3:
Fuel Consumption Urban 17.9L/100km
Fuel Consumption Extra Urban 8.8L/100km
Fuel Consumption Combined (ADR 81/01) 12.1L/100km
Thanks for the info Alborz. Just as a matter of interest I am currently getting 15.8 L/100 city and 9.8 L/100 Highway out of the LS2 on 95 RON fuel. Thats normal driving, 95% sensible and 5% fun. It has done 7000 klms and the Chevs don’t loosen up properly until around 10000 klms+ so I expect it will improve slightly. As lazybones points out it is a moot point with these cars and fuel consumption has only ever been of marginal interest for me.
Lazybones…thats two testicals between us which should please Heidi no end. I want mine in silver.
The series 2 VE [VF?] will use 5 to 7% less fuel
It will have cylinder shut down on light load, what ever fance name they call it?
This is the one and only V8 that is going to be fitted to the G8 Pontiacs exported to USA, so makes sense to supply this engine across the board.
A few more points -
1/The GENIV is happy to run on std 91 ULP, all BMW’s require min. 95 or HiPo versions 98 octane
2/I still think the HSV GTS with 309kW wont be shamed to much by the new M3, for mine the series 2 GTS should have at least 330kW, its not high enough -v- a std. SS, great value all the same.
2a/HSV part owner TWR sells road legal hot up bits to tweak your HSV, spend say $30k and it will destroy the M3 and about any other car on the road
3/The only reason the M3 puts out so much power is it revs, kinda like a bigblock VTEC, i prefer cubes but thats just me
4/Ford will have a more competive V8 in the Barra [bout time, getting its ass kicked] and the supercharged homologated V8 [Super GT] is still in the pipe line
5/Finally:-), if i was buying one of these rip off German vehicles, it would be neither the M3 or RS4, i rather the BigBlock 6.2 C Class Benz by AMG
Cheers
O/A
I thought it was the Gen 3 that gave the GM V8’s a bad name in Australia when they were mating the auto version to stupid 4 speed non tiptronic transmissions on the WH statesmen (my mate owns one), as well as the piston slap issues which cause higher oil consumption as somebody pointed out on the TRD Aurion article. The Gen 4 should be great and if Holden are mating it to a 5 speed tiptronic (on an SS) I would be prefectly happy with that effort because it would be well suited, and a 6 speed on the upper sec HSV’s.
It sounds more like you having the ‘one-eyed opinion’ OttoAu! ;-) I find Alborz to be more impartial than most other scribes I find on the web. You need to take you Chev, I mean Holden, blinkers off once in a while and admire other engines/marques for what they are, like a true car enthusiast.
I find the power/torque figures of the M3 V8 to be exceptional for what it is. Better than the 6.0L Gen IV when you put it into perspective. Look at it this way. It makes 4/5ths of the torque of the Gen IV with only 2/3rds of the capacity whilst producing the same amount of power. To me that shows how good it really is. Only thing is you have to pay for the privilege. It is a better engine than the Gen IV, but definitely not better value. Plus also if you keep good oil etc up to it, like most BMW ‘M’ engines, it should stand the test of time.
Also you got one thing incorrect, not ALL BMWs require 95RON as a minimum. That used to be the case, but the Valvetronic 4cyls will happily run on our crappy 91RON. They just recommend 95+. But why would you want a 4cyl Bimmer anyway!! It is cheaper for these cars to run on 95 anyway as the improvement in fuel consumption more than make up for the extra cost. Plus it is better for the car due to 95 being a cleaner fuel in most cases.
All that stuff about ‘displacement on demand’ is all talk ATM! It is only ‘planned’ and is not here yet. We have also all heard this before as Holden said years ago that the VE will have it at launch but they didn’t end up fitting it in the end. I will only believe it when I actually see it fitted. Yes, a Gen IV is impressive WRT fuel consumption on the highway, but it is abysmal around the town. At the end of the day you can’t beat physics!
As Alborz mentioned with the servicing, all is not as it seems. Most BMWs now have a 25-30,000km servicing interval with no real time service, unlike most other manufacturers. The computer will calculate intervals depending on how you drive and the type of driving, eg stop-start or highway and determine servicing to suit. I also don’t know where you got $150 service from, I don’t know of any dealer that would do the big V8s for that! Someone needs to take their hand of it! TVFPIC. In terms of $ per km, there is not much in it.
Don’t get me wrong, the Gen IV is a great engine and fantastic value for money. I respect it for what it is and does best, bringing stonking performance to tha masses. But it is not the ‘be all and end all’ that a lot of people make it out to be. Anyone who discounts other cars because they don’t have a big lump of a V8 up the front is only selling themselves short. Different engines for different circumstances as not everyone wants a thumping V8…
Flame suit donned and ready!!!! ;-) :-)
Devils Advocate, I agree mostly with what you say. I am a passionate purveyor of all performance cars and although I currently own a car with the Gen4 which is great there are plenty of performance cars I would rather own. It (the Gen4)is however highly effective and it would seem somewhat missunderstood by people who don’t drive them.
I do find myself constantly having to defend it on this blog. I’d rather not to be honest, it makes me look one eyed when in reality my automotive interests are varied to say the least. However for some absurd reason every nancy boy Camry driving know it all seems to know best when it comes to V8’s and I cannot in all good consciousness let the purveyors of the mundane get away with it.
For the money the Gen4 is exceptional value. For its size it is quite fuel efficient and not as abysmal as you suggest and noticeably better in city cycle than the BMW engines Alborz provided info on. I have often made the point that fuel consumption is irrelevant to buyers of these types of cars anyway.
The BMW is certainly a more advanced design and I would much prefer owning an M3 over any HSV period. I have no doubt and would expect the M3 to be significantly better than a VE HSV and so it should be. However, I suspect that in the real world the gulf between these two engines will be a small(ish) one with regard to available performance and fuel efficiency. They just go about it in different ways.
“You need to take you Chev, I mean Holden, blinkers off once in a while and admire other engines/marques for what they are, like a true car enthusiast.”
True, we should all be happy that for what ever reason (Consumer Demand,Environment, etc). Car manufactures are having to give us enthusiasts some real choice to talk about. We’ve got almost everything on the table right now from Hydrogen power to Hybrid. Petrol engines with better efficiency and power. To me, this is all good!!
“not ALL BMWs require 95RON as a minimum”
Keep in mind they don’t have 91RON in Europe anymore. Standard Unleaded is 95, Premium is 97 and 99 is your super stuff. This will probably explain why most euro cars don’t like the crappy 91RON. I’m glad to see aussie manufactures moving in this direction. I don’t even use 91RON in my lawn mower!
OttoAu said
March 23 2007 @ 9:05 pm
“1/The GENIV is happy to run on std 91 ULP, all BMW’s require min. 95 or HiPo versions 98 octane”
Wrong – 4 cylinder 320i will run on 91ULP.
“2/I still think the HSV GTS with 309kW wont be shamed to much by the new M3, for mine the series 2 GTS should have at least 330kW, its not high enough -v- a std. SS, great value all the same.”
Yep, great value, thanks to luxury car taxes and tariffs. Take protectionism away and bye bye GMH.
2a/HSV part owner TWR sells road legal hot up bits to tweak your HSV, spend say $30k and it will destroy the M3 and about any other car on the road
“Destroy”? Nonsense. Why aren’t these “hot up bits” standard? If I was paying a premium over a regular bombadore, I’d want a vast improvement in performance.
3/The only reason the M3 puts out so much power is it revs, kinda like a bigblock VTEC, i prefer cubes but thats just me
All Holden fans love cubes… kind of embarrassing really. What next, a 9.0L V8 to keep up with far technologically superior engines from Germany?
4/Ford will have a more competive V8 in the Barra [bout time, getting its ass kicked] and the supercharged homologated V8 [Super GT] is still in the pipe line
Unless Ford establishes an export program, they’re in deep trouble.
5/Finally:-), if i was buying one of these rip off German vehicles, it would be neither the M3 or RS4, i rather the BigBlock 6.2 C Class Benz by AMG
Rip off German vehicles? Like I said above, Holden only survives due to luxury car taxes and tariffs, not due to the quality of its vehicles. We’ll see what happens in 2010 when tariffs reduce to 5%… are Holden going to go cap in hand to the government?
Feel I must make some comment re claims above of reliability issues with Beemers. My experience with having owned 6 of them is so different that I am sure those claims are hearsay only.
Also as Alborz has said the service intervals now average around 25000 k’s.
The only warranty claim I have had was with an auto trans failure in my first X5 while towing. This was out of warranty period and completely replaced with a new one, no questions or quibbles as well as luxury hotel accomodation while it was being done.
Try that with your GM product!!
Just an update WRT Displacement on Demand (DoD) on the V8 VE models. Don’t even think about it. When they went from VZ to VE, they changed the 6.0L V8 from the L76 to the L98. What doesn this mean? The L76 in the VZ was DoD capable and was disconnected by GM Holden for various reason (even though pre release of VZ they leaked that it would be active, typical). However in the VE, the L98 is NOT DoD capable. Why did GM Holden do this? As usual they say one thing and do another. They love going forwards in some areas (chassis and suspension which is world class) and backwards in others (the drivetrain, how can anyone make a high tech V6 engine sound just as gruff and vibrate just as much as the old push rod buick that was fitted before it. It is one of the few multi-valve, quad cam V6s I know of that DOESN’T like to rev, WTF). Why they still use that old clunker of a 4sp auto in an otherwise refined package has got me. So much for “Holden meaning a great deal to Australia”…
I hate the argument that come from Aussie Muscle Car owners when it comes to getting done by a Euro 3.0 litre . I normally get ‘Well what do you expect bro,my fully sick Commodore didn’t cost me $140.000,it doesn’t come with all that technolgy” Grow up ! In the UK last year you could buy a Fully Sick 6.0 litre Monaro for 36,000 pounds or an E46 M3 for 37.000 pounds.Don’t think they sold more Monaros,do you? If you want to put the VE up against BMs Motorsport range then stop complaing about the cost of it! Apples with apples please. And whats with Holden every time they add another litre and extract 10 kilowatts from it putting a badge on the back .OH look its got 307 kw oh impressive. Thank god BMW doesn’t put 373 kw on the badges on the M5 and 309 on the new M3.Even Ford doesn’t bother with that crap. Yes I have owned Commodores , had 2 SS and 2 Brock. Kept buying another each time one would go back to the dealer for yet another problem. Finally learnt that for my driving style,BMW was the only one that could handle the punishment {got an M3}. Didn’t even Holden in an early Wheels article for VE state something about the VE being a bogan BMW. Hey Holden you know China make there own BMW’s un badged of course ,maybe instead of spending a billion on the VE you should have put an order in to China for some copies and then just rebadged them Commodores? Similar quality too ! Get original Holden,stop coping every one elses ideas.Should have called the VE a Heinz,it has sooo many of every one else’s stuff on it. And finally if Holden could match BMWs policy of extracing 100hp for every litre then that would mean the 6.litre would have as much grunt as V8 supercar! Hows your drive train like that Holden ? Bang!!!
Oh forgot to say,check out http://www.rsportscars.com for more under wrap photos of the NEW M3.
Ok all good points,I own a bmw e39 528i,best dam car I’ve ever owned,has things in that holden/fords didn’t when it came out.
As for reliability,there’s a BIG myth about bmws, people think there bullet proof,well there only bullet proof if you service them at least every 12 months if not 6 for things like oil,there’s a reason why bmw ENGINEER there cars different,how else do you think there motors are so smooth,engineering philosophy is second to none,if that means pushing the boundaries and getting it wrong form time to time,rather that than a BORING slapped together Toyota!
As for petrol,OttoAu! My bmw runs on 91 or 95 for that mater,or 98 to while were at it,it stipulates in my owners hand book that for optimum performance of my m52 i6 (not a hipo motor) it is best to use 98,take it form me,if i run the cheap stuff it drinks it!
There a good reason why we’d all sell our grandmas for an m3,it’s not just the motor it’s the whole dam car,i’ve driven an e46 m3 and that car is just of the planet,makes a good track car,yet a well balanced daily driver to!
As for performance,my 2.5 i6 can out handle any thing on the twisty’s (it’s a bmw after all) has enough pace to keep up with traffic,us bmw owners are use to old story,my you know what is bigger than your you know what,and im NOT talking CI :p
I probably shouldn’t be posting this in this forum, but food for thought. I own an MY06 WRX. I have spent about $10k on it and after driving the new M3 and GTS, would comfortably say that my humble 2.5l turbo would wipe the floor with both in terms of both handling and acceleration. For the extra $10k the car is pumping out over 200kw at the wheels, close to 450nm in peak torque and in the two years I have had it, it hasn’t skipped a beat. Yes, its a plastic fantastic rice burner (albeit genetically engineered rice) but for the money and performance I am finding it very hard to part with.
Maybe Jason but the point is yours is modified,there are many cars we could spend $10000 on it will out accelerate the M3,this M3 will run to the red line all day long and without having to take it to your ricer tuner to tweak it!Im betting my stock E36 M3 {yep thats ten years old} would have out run your stock Rex,Ive had a few runs with Rex’es and they are yet to catch me. Oh dont get me wrong Im a fan of REX’es bang for buck there great value,would be my choice if I didnt have the M3.
Yes, but the point was that it doesn’t take much to turn the thing into a serious performance machine at a fraction of the cost of an M3. I was actually quite disappointed with the stock car, but its great fun now. Nonetheless, have been considering a 2-3 year old E46 as an upgrade. What are running costs like assuming 15,000km per annum?
Up till now its been my Sunday car so Ive always done around 5000 ks a year……..only running costs are services,thats all thats been done on it in the 4 years Ive had her, oil, coolant, filters, tyres {last about 10,000 ks on her ,like most performance tyres} that sort of thing,she is a low ks car hard to find I know. Make sure you get it checked out!
Find a low k car and you should be fine,brakes can be a bit exy even with non genuine parts ,I was lucky all four rotors and pads replaced on mine before I bought it,will need a new clutch I guess in the next 12 months but thats only about $1300 to replace similar to if not cheaper than your average Aussie performance car,clutch kit about $600 so parts not that bad as you would think. If you go on the Caradvice Forum and look me up in the members section you will see my car. Cheers