Why should it be? I have the deep dark suspicion that the M3 will use the same engine block as the new 540i/740i with M5-based valvetrain components.

(For those that don't already know, the 4.4 liter V8 from the 545i/745i is being replaced by the 4.8 liter V8 from the X5 4.8 - and originally was designed by Alpina for the automatic version of the Z8. Now that we have the 750i - and the 550i - the next question is whether North America will get the 4.0 liter 540i, which replace the 3.6 liter 535i that never came to the U.S.A.? Are you confused yet?)

 

From what i've read, it is based heavily off the M5's 5.0L v10. I'm here thinking 5.0 V10 with 2 cylinders chopped off = 4.0L v8. And the 5.0 V10 is not a cheap motor which leads me to believe that this 4.0 is more complex and expensive than say a 3.0L TT I-6. I could be wrong though, and i have been in the past. Guess we'll just have to wait and see.

 

I can only guess that you didn't notice my reference to the 4.0 liter 540i/740i? All of BMW's V8/V10/V12 engine are built with the same tooling.

In any case, I stated a while back that a turbocharged 3.0 liter was coming from BMW. I also might have also said that that the turbo model might be a replacment for the current 330i with the "performance package." Whooops....

 

Yeah. Kinda skimmed over it . Makes perfect sense. Even with same tooling though, it is a pretty exotic v8. Do you think the Turbocharged 330hp 3.0L costs more or less? I would think less, but i could be wrong.

Looks like your prediction was right on.