Just as a result of it is a four-cylinder engine doesn’t suggest it is not potent. The S14B23, the E30 M3’s engine, is a standard-layout dual-overhead-camshaft inline four-cylinder. It’s naturally aspirated, which suggests it didn’t use a turbocharger or a supercharger. With 2.3 liters of displacement, this potent engine put out a whopping 197 horsepower. For reference, that is about the identical energy output because the 302-cubic-inch V8 present in an equivalent-year Foxbody Mustang.

Vinauto stories that the engine was based mostly on the BMW M10 four-cylinder engine block with the cylinder head from a BMW S38 six-cylinder (the M5 engine) with two cylinders eliminated. This engine was particularly developed for high-performance purposes on each the street and the race monitor.

One of essentially the most excellent options of the S14 engine discovered within the BMW E30 M3 is its use of two particular person throttle our bodies. This allowed extra exact tuning of the air consumption system and supplied a extra speedy throttle response. This was a giant contributing issue within the responsive and sporty really feel of the first-gen M3 that gained the automotive its important acclaim and fanatics’ reward.