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Originally Posted by IS3andME
If it is not hard to make the S55 reliable in race trim, then why did BMW themselves pick and develop the M6 with the TTV8? Why not pick the M4? Again, are claiming that the S55 will last the endurance races, be reliable against the 911RSR, Corvette, Ford GT, Ferrari 488? Or in GTD class, the Audi R8, Lambo Huracan, AMG GT, Lexus RC-F? Many of these cars are making well over 500 comfortably, whereas the M3/M4 isn't. Plus, there is that crank hub issue.
And again, this is not a few laps, these are endurance races. 24 Hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring, there is the 24 Hours of Nurburgring, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. If the S55 is as thermically stable as you say, why no M4? Why no S55? It is a lighter car than the M6. The smaller M3 coupe (now M4) has historically done battle with the 911, which is why BMW decided to go to a V8 with the E46 M3 GTR---their inline 6 wouldn't cut it.
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M4 GT4 should come out soon and will no doubt be run in various endurance races.
Wait, actually it just ran in the 24 of Dubai in its maiden race and did reasonably well - certainly finished the race, and the lap times were better than all the GT4 cars (2:10 fastest lap, midway between the GT4 class - the best of which ran 2:11/12 - and the 911 Cups at 2:05+). Not sure why it was classed as SPX and not SP1, anyway...
So we'll see this year not only how reliable it is for endurance, but also how competitive in the GT4 class.
As to your other question my personal answers are marketing, and they obviously thought the bigger engine would erase some of the other sins. It makes sense on paper - since the HP Is limited, the shape of the torque curve is the only thing left that could give you an advantage along with fuel economy. Somehow maybe it just didn't translate? Maybe it's just too big of a whale and the aero is simply not competitive in a field of lean sharks.
Things have massively changed since 10, or 5 or even 3 years ago, there is more competition that actually knows what they're doing. BMW has also been absent from the higher forms of Motorsport - IMO it matters, it's all related. Their focus has shifted in recent years, and it's now percolating down here.