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Stock 2021 BMW M3 Competition Cranks Out 538 HP on the Dyno

Reliability isn’t the strongest point of modern BMWs. Too many electronics, too much plastic, and engineering deficiencies are pretty common, but when they run, BMW engines are very impressive.
TRUE POWER of the BMW M3 G80 Competition by AutoTopNL 161 photos
Photo: AutoTopNL on YouTube
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Take, for instance, the S58 motor introduced two years ago in the X3 M and X4 M. It’s based on the B58 engine, which may be affected by coolant loss, a bad valve cover gasket, a disintegrating oil filter, and failing VANOS solenoids. Rated at 510 PS (503 horsepower) and 650 Nm (479 pound-feet) of torque in the M3 Competition, the S58 is too new to report any problems.

Other than output figures, what makes this lump impressive? It’s hard to resist its aural qualities, that’s for sure, but BMW M also has a habit of understating an engine’s crankshaft numbers. Car vlogger AutoTopNL strapped the M3 Competition to the dynamometer, and as the headline implies, the dyno sheet reveals 545.6 PS or 538 horsepower.

Torque is estimated at 703 Nm (519 pound-feet) at the crankshaft, and at the rear wheels, the S58 develops 466.5 PS (460 horsepower) and 620.9 Nm (458 pound-feet). For a 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged straight-six mill in a compact executive sedan, these figures are - dare I say it - breathtaking.

The non-Competition M3 also develops more suck-squeeze-bang-blow than BMW M says it does. Instead of 480 PS (473 horsepower) and 550 Nm (406 pound-feet) of torque, AutoTopNL has recently found out that an entry-level G80 cranks out 503 PS (496 horsepower) and 607 Nm (448 pound-feet).

Limited by rear-wheel drive, the S58 comes into its own with the M xDrive option. The horsepower and torque ratings aren’t changed by the all-wheel-drive system, but the straight-line performance does improve thanks to a little more traction. The Bavarian automaker quotes 3.5 seconds to 100 kilometers per hour (62 miles per hour), which is an improvement of four-tenths of a second over the rear-wheel-drive M3 Competition and M4 Competition.

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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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