What Cars Have BMW's S54 Engine Under The Hood & How Much HP Does It Have?

The BMW M has a reputation as a high-performing car line, both on the track and in the streets. It's been like that for decades, but the German manufacturer needed to modernize at the turn of the century, introducing the S54 engine. 

Despite marketing as the high-performance equivalent to the M54, the S54 was more of an upgrade to BMW's S50 B32 engine. Using the 3.2-liter engine as a base, BMW increased the cylinder bore of the S54 to 87 mm, bringing the total displacement up to 3,246cc. Other upgrades included dual-overhead camshafts, a high-pressure double VANOS system, and increased compression, resulting in the S54 becoming a staple for BMW vehicles from 2000 to 2008. 

During that time, the S54 engine appeared in various vehicles. The S54B32 was in the BMW M3 E46, the performance model of the E46. BMW produced it in coupe and convertible styles from 2000 to 2006, and on the track, it even became one of the best drift cars ever made. The S54 was also in the rare M3 CSL, one of the few legendary vehicles powered by inline-six engines.  The engine was also present in 2001 and 2002 BMW Z3M models in Europe and the United States between 2001 and 2002. BMW built the Z3M in secret in South Carolina, and only a handful of them left the factory with the S54. BMW also included the S54 engine in the Z4M roadster and coupe models from 2006 to 2008, also produced in South Carolina.

With the release of the S54 engine, BMW wanted to reach a goal of 100 horsepower per liter. Given that the inline-6 engine had just over 3.2 liters of displacement, the engineers were looking at a minimum of 320 hp. Needless to say, that's a bold benchmark to reach, but the S54 achieved (and even surpassed) that number in all of BMW's models. 

The BMW M3 E46, the car that first rolled out the company's S54 engine, had 343 hp (DIN) or 333 hp (SAE) at 7,900 rpm and 262 lb-ft of torque at 4,900 rpm. The uber-rare M3 CSL featured a modified version of the S54 with a more efficient air intake system, modified camshafts, exhaust valves, and a lightweight exhaust system. These changes increased the overhaul horsepower to 360 hp (DIN) at 7,900 rpm and 273 lb-ft of torque at 4,300 rpm. 

In 2001, BMW introduced the Z3M, the M-developed version of the Z3 coupe, and the S54 was only present in the vehicle until 2002. However, during that time, the engine had 325 hp at 7,400 rpm and 258 lb-ft of torque at 4,900 rpm, just barely hitting BMW's 100 horsepower per liter benchmark. The 2006 BMW Z4M roadster and coupe didn't cut it so close, attaining 330 hp at 7,900 rpm and 262 lb-ft of torque at 4,900 rpm.