Normally aspirated straight 6 love

[SDCoupe]

I wanted to find the answer to the question, "what is the highest output naturally aspirated straight 6 ever produced by BMW?" I must add the caveat that this list is for cars within the USA market. There are a ton of different configurations and special editions we didn't get here, so to keep it simple, its just cars available to usa customers. Also, the list reflects the car with the highest output for that motor.

Ok.

#1 as you may have guessed is the M3 e46 @ 333 hp. A beautiful engine indeed. But what about the rest?

330i ZHP 235hp 3.0 78hp/l
E36 M3 240 hp 3.2 75hp/l
E28 M5 256hp 3.5 73hp/l
3.0si X3 260hp 3.0 87hp/l
E26 M1 277hp 3.5 79hp/l
E34 M5 311hp 3.6 86hp/l
E46 M3 333hp 3.2 104hp/l

So there you have it. The interesting thing is how the 3.0si holds it's own in terms of horsepower per liter and overall horsepower. Sandwiched between some very good M company.

I will always love a naturally aspirated motor. So clean and simple.

[Z4Murder]

naturally aspirated

[Huz-Z]

Interesting.

My car is naturally aspirated and my wife claims I am normally exaspirating. Its a match made in Heaven, boys!

[funkle]

Cool post. Too bad its days are probably over.

[donoman]

Very cool ... I've always been very shy about having a turbo'd car. I know they can be more efficient and make more power per liter, but owning an '03 Audi A4 1.8T really left me with an understanding that there is "no free lunch." I remember hoses that would break when I moved them... super brittle. And one hose broke and spewed oil all over the top of the engine. That was the end of my Audi days.

Turbos run hotter and as a result, the engine wears faster. Hoses and sensors are all operated at higher temperature and decompose faster. I think the jury is still out on the new BMW turbos being reliable or what. I hope to see the new turbo's can run up to 200k like the legendary M52 or M54 inline-6's.

[SDCoupe]

I used to own a 1993 RX-7 and both turbos leaked oil and needed replacing, even the engine was replaced at 50k miles. No doubt turbos stress an engine especially when boosted beyond their normal operating range. But they have such huge upside potential, it's crazy. I've seen tunes that add 50-100 hp, whereas you'd be lucky to get 20hp out of a NA tune.

Seems like everything is going this way, and/or hybrid electric. Enjoy the last high performance naturally aspirated engines while you can!

[funkle]

I've never liked turbos. Even the "low lag" ones. I always feel like they are more about ballistic straight line speed. No way to modulate the balance with the gas while cornering. When we bought our Mini, my wife & I preferred the normally aspirated one - it's much more about carrying speed through a corner and using the power wisely, rather than just stamping on the gas on the straights.

[Asianoak]

I agree, I had a '95 Eagle Talon TSi AWD... basically a Mitsubishi Eclipse for those of you who are unfaimliar with DSMs.

The thing was a total beast and the power was addictive. But the reliability was horrible and something was constantly breaking. It was great when new but as it aged and things got brittle from the heat it just wasn't a higher mileage roadtrip kind of vehicle.

As such I've stayed away from turbos ever since, my friends keep wondering why I buy older used BMWs when I can afford new ones and they don't seem to understand my love of N.A. Hoping that these newer modern turbo cars prove to be more reliable than the old school ones since sadly the N.A engine really is going the way of the dodo.