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In Reply to: 850/840 posted by Matt on January 19, 2000 at 21:52:19:
It's rather ill-considered to compare the the S38 engine to the M70 engine. The S38 is a highly tuned four valve head engine from which the engineers extracted most of the available potential. The M70, however, is an exceptionally smooth, torquey engine designed and intended to power BMW's flagship vehicles, the 750iL and the 850i. As a consequence, it's a low compression two valve head engine which is very understressed as engine utilization goes. Will it respond to development? Absolutely. The mere act of Jim Conforti tuning a 6-speed 850i resulted in 50HP measured at the rear wheel on a Dynojet. With extrude-honed intake manifolds and exhaust, even more output is possible, and at that point the M70's output equals or exceeds that of the S38, while producing substantially more torque.
Is the 850i a drag racer? I think not. But neither is an E34 M5. But the 850i, with it's smooooooooooth V12 is among the best highway luxury cruising coupes in the world today - even still so a decade after its introduction. And it'll easily pull on most cars above 120mph even with its "low performance" V12 ;-)
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