On the subject of highly effective straight-six motors, few automakers match BMW’s skill to squeeze large horsepower and torque figures out of 1. They have been doing it for many years, most notably of their M-powered fashions such because the M3. BMW’s first highly effective straight-six got here to us again in 1972, and was put in throughout the first iteration of the BMW 3.0 CSL.
Just lately, BMW noticed match to resurrect the enduring 3.0 CSL nameplate, and with it, deliver again the spirit of that authentic 3.0-liter straight-six motor. In doing so, BMW created their most power-dense engine ever. The three.0-liter in query is a model of the present B58 straight-six, albeit with some key mods to make it such a strong unit. CarBuzz determined to pay homage to this motor, because it deserves a spot in automotive historical past. Learn on, and let’s examine what we are able to study.
Base MSRP $750,000
Engine 3.0L Twin-Turbo Inline-6 Gasoline
Horsepower 552 hp
The next write-up incorporates info, specs, and historical past sourced instantly from BMW’s M-division web site.
BMW’s Powerhouse: S58B30T0 Scorching-Six
What Makes It So Particular?
An influence density of 184 hp. 308.2 hp per ton. Engine featured in BMW’s first CSL mannequin in 20 years. Creates a considerable amount of energy utilizing a comparatively small engine. It options a great deal of high-tech engineering to realize its energy output.
Enter the BMW S58B30T0, a straight-six which is, seemingly, straight out of a race automobile. Nevertheless, the precise mill discovered throughout the 2023 BMW 3.0 CSL is of a particular breed, because it’s the one one which carries a 552-horsepower score, which implies the engine has an influence density or particular energy output of 184 hp per liter. That is not fairly up there with the very best, however one hp per liter shy of the mighty turbocharged three-cylinder within the GR Corolla. The S58B30T0 is a part of BMW’s B58 household of straight-six engines, which has been round for 9 years now. These motors have seen purposes starting from the brisk BMW 340i to the rough-and-tumble BMW M3 CS. Briefly, these engines are not any strangers to hurry and energy.
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Few inline-six motors garner the identical adoration because the 2JZ in terms of tuning potential, however the BMW B58 comes shut.
With BMW’s timeless motto being “The Final Driving Machine”, the S58B30T0 wanted to be distinctive, particularly because it was put in throughout the latest 3.0 CSL, a namesake that is virtually as iconic because the Bavarian automaker as a complete. As we’ll focus on beneath, it is clear BMW knew this, and excelled in making a mill that met and even exceeded everybody’s expectations of what a CSL ought to be able to.
The What, Why, And How Of The S58B30T0
Engine Specs
Displacement
3.0-Liter Twin-Turbo Straight-Six
Horsepower
552 hp
Torque
406 lb-ft
0-60 MPH (2023 BMW 3.0 CSL)
3.6 Seconds
The motor in query is a far cry from that authentic 3.0-liter discovered within the 1972 BMW 3.0 CSL, probably the most iconic Bimmers ever made. Again then, the three.0 CSL solely made 203 horsepower and 211 lb-ft of torque. Now, it could be ignorant to assert this wasn’t sufficient energy for the time, because the ’72 3.0 CSL was a critically quick racer for its time. Nevertheless, lately, its grandson has sufficient energy to run circles round it.
The recipe for such energy is a protracted checklist of elements, however all of them come collectively to make fairly a particular motor. As we talked about earlier than, the engine carries a manufacturing code of S58B30T0, denoting its place among the many hotter variations of BMW’s B58 engine household. In step with custom, the fashionable 3.0 CSL makes use of a straight-six configuration. Nevertheless, a few mono-scroll turbochargers have been added into the combo to assist create these 552 horses.
On prime of some expertly-tuned compelled induction, the S58B30T0 additionally options upgrades over the same old mill, resembling a molybdenum-steel crankshaft, which is superb for light-weight warmth displacement and its excessive torsion resistance. Different upgrades embody solid metal connecting rods and solid aluminum pistons, the latter of which helps hold engine weight low whereas the previous helps additional strengthen the motor. The engine’s compression ratio is sort of excessive, as effectively, measuring 11.0:1, whereas the conventional B58 collection motors solely handle 9.3:1.
All of those upgrades culminate in that 552-horsepower and 402 lb-ft of torque score. To not point out, due to the S58B30T0’s upgrades listed above, it might probably rev as much as 7,200 rpm, a powerful quantity for a straight-six. Briefly, the 2023 BMW 3.0 CSL’s motor wasn’t born to fiddle, it is an extremely succesful piece of kit.
How The S58B30T0 Got here To Be
As beforehand talked about, the S58B30T0 began life as a run-of-the-mill B58-series motor. It is already a potent engine discovered within the likes of fashions such because the BMW 340i and the BMW 740i. Nevertheless, earlier than that, the B58 engine household can hint its roots to the earlier N55 straight-six congregation of engines. Some distinctive makes use of of an N55-series engine (the S55 particularly) embody fashions such because the 2017–2020 BMW M4 CS and the 2020–2021 BMW M2 CS.
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In simply 9 years, the B58 has a confirmed monitor report for energy, reliability, and energy
Bearing that in thoughts, it is clear the N55 household was no slouch, both. In 2015, BMW determined to start improvement of a brand new straight-six engine, which might change into the B58 and its subsequent variations. The N55 was slowly phased out after the B58’s introduction.
BMW’s penchant for inline-six energy spans a long time, and so they select to proceed honing their affinity for inline motors as a consequence of their ease-of-manufacture, supposed better-balanced energy, and clean operation. Judging by their steadfast dedication to this explicit cylinder configuration, it is secure to imagine the BMW straight-six is not going anyplace any time quickly.
How The New 3.0 CSL Dominates A Monitor
Whereas its engine is definitely a powerful feat of engineering, the ’23 BMW 3.0 CSL’s severe monitor prowess is not simply as a consequence of what is going on on below its CFRP hood. There are a great deal of different items of exact, honed engineering at play to show the 2023 3.0 CSL right into a drive to be reckoned with on any monitor day.
One of many core tenants of any automobile that is fast round a monitor is lightness, and the engineers at BMW are effectively conscious of this truth. The fashionable-day BMW 3.0 CSL contains a physique constructed largely of carbon fiber strengthened plastic (CFRP). On prime of the high-tech physique panels, the three.0 CSL ditches principally all sound-deadening materials, so it isn’t stunning to listen to the within of the new Bimmer sounds such as you’re piloting some kind of supersonic go-kart. BMW even went so far as creating a brand new rear exhaust diffuser out of titanium, saving about 10 kilos. It sounds ineffective, dropping only some kilos, however within the pursuit of pace with out compromise, something goes.
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With a price ticket near $800,000, it is important to know what units the three.0 CSL aside from every other BMW product.
One other particular side of the BMW 3.0 CSL is its six-speed handbook transmission. Whereas BMW does nonetheless supply manuals in fashions just like the M2, M3, and M4, it is secure to imagine the times of BMWs with manuals could also be coming to an finish within the coming years, judging by what the remainder of the automotive world is doing. Take Volkswagen, for instance, who simply introduced the enduring Golf GTI will now not function a handbook transmission.
Sadly, in the event you’ve learn this write-up and change into overwhelmed with a need to personal a BMW 3.0 CSL, your time to purchase a brand-new one has already come to go. BMW solely produced 50 items, all of which bought out instantly. Nevertheless, in the event you’ve received a critically massive pocket ebook and time to attend, you may almost certainly be capable to discover one on the market used in some unspecified time in the future. One not too long ago bought through RM Sotheby’s public sale for about $1.1 million. In any other case, you may be relegated to gazing at footage and dreaming of clipping apexes in one among BMW’s all-time greats.