Quote:
Originally Posted by RPiM5
That's not what I meant and you know this. The S65 and S85 are two completely different engines, even though the S65 was derived from the S85. The S63tu4 is not a completely different engine from the S63tu, it has same number of cylinders, redline, exhaust note, etc... but with minor updates to the top portion of the engine. The 6.6L V12 is in a league of its own. And I enjoy the G12 body style more than the G30, but I understand to each their own.
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Yeah, that wasn't a very good analogy on his part.
Despite the two sharing development, the S85/S65 are really the only engines sold in street BMWs that were 100% conceived at M GmbH, hence why the word "bespoke" is often used to describe them.
Every other M-engine is ultimately derived from something else that doesn't have origins in the M works.
S55 from N55
S63 from N63
S62 from M62
S54 from S50, which itself has origins in the M50...and then from here, ultimately the M30 and M10 blocks (which is the same story with the S14, S38, M88).
With that being said, I agree with your perspective, that BMW and BMW M as of late is just into what I like to call "lazy engineering".
But that was expected when the whole company abandoned NA engines.
It's so much easier and cost-effective to use modular/generic platforms and modify and tune FI engines for various applications than to dedicate resources to a build one that is only used for one type of application.
Building an all-motor engine and optimizing it for a chassis is a much finer art, but that ship has sailed a decade ago.
An M V12 would certainly be nice (i'd love to see a V12 8er again), but unfortunately, it doesn't fit into the current BMW portfolio, which is highly dependent on fitting neatly within market segments instead of really pushing boundaries.