The Reason Why This Is The Best BMW 6-Cylinder

- Patreon -

- Timestamps -
00:00 Intro
01:27 Origins of the S54
02:45 Characteristic features
04:38 Why is it so good?
05:30 CSL-made S54B32HP
06:06 Is it reliable?
06:50 Maintenance
08:02 Models and production numbers
08:51 Final words

- Disclaimer -
This video is fair use under U.S. copyright law because it is transformative in nature, uses no more of the original than necessary and has no adverse effect on the market for the original work.

- Credits -
“BMW E46 M3 CSL noise and acceleration” by Motor

“Short Film [4K] - E46 M3” by BIMMERCLUB // EXPEDITED

“BMW E46 M3 Drive Film” by Overtake Films

“BMW E46 M3 racecars on Nordschleife - S54 intake sounds” by Belgian-Motorsport

“The BMW M3 (E46) film. Everything about the third generation BMW M3.” by BMW

“BMW Z4M Tribute | Video by Szatrasie” by szatrasie

“989 BMW E30 S54 SMG underneath restoration” by József Kiss

“700HP BMW M3 E46 Time Attack MONSTER | Vortech Supercharged S54 Engine AMAZING Sounds!” by NM2255 Car HD Videos

“BMW M3 CSL Engine Bay & Carbon Airbox Up Close” by Al S

“BMW e46 M3 CSL carbon Intake sound/roar! - #ProjectCSLbuild” by Stone Automotive

“BMW M3 CSL Acceleration LOUD Carbon Airbox” by borjarzz

“Axel Nörenberg - BMW M3 E46 CSL Rallycar | PURE SOUND [HD]” by PMRallyeVids

“E46 M3 CSL Airbox induction noise, SCZA Exhaust” by Alex Brown

“BMW E30 M3 with fully tuned S54 engine” by Jake W

“BMW M3 E46 S54 Brutal Engine Intake Sound while Driving” by Dom2506

“Sweet BMW S54 sound!” by Axis Of Oversteer

“E46 M3 0-280 SMG Launch Controll” by Hipek_M3
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“BMW E90 WTCC M3 | S54 intake sounds & flybys (2019-2021)” by Belgian-Motorsport

[SavageBunny]

As an owner of 3 S54's, I absolutely love them I rebuilt all of them, bought them for pennies with a rod knock, new crank, rods, WPC treated cranks there super reliable, NA is the way to keep them, if you want more power N54 is the way to go.

[turbo]

I like using your videos to teach my son about engine design. Thanks for all your great video content.

[bayareaomg]

ayee I'm glad to see visio doing a deep dive into the s54, a truely underated masterpiece of an engine that pushed the limits of physic and engineering. I've been obsessed for 6+ years but recently started consuming all the s54 content available so this is really a great treat!

[CanDriveSoon]

The S54 sounds good, but the S38 sounds better

[vazilinik]

Love your engine videos and its always lovely to see a vid abr actual sport engines

[bobhill]

Another fantastic video, the daughter of a friend of my dad's had a BMW (He didn't give me any specifics) but he did tell me because she didn't drive it hard, the underside of the cam cover got covered in oil!

[darylmorse]

As an owner of an E46 M3, I can attest that the S54 is a special engine. It sounds great and it's smooth all the way to the redline. The VANOS solenoids sometimes fail, but VANOS has other more significant problems, the exhaust hub and the seals as well as the camshaft hub bolts. If the exhaust hub fails, it can destroy the engine. These problems can be relatively inexpensively prevented.

[bartosznazar]

Oooh! The wet dream of my youth roars again! I'll have no sleep tonight :) Great material - thx VisioRacer!

[classiccarssp]

S38 for me anyday!!! Long live the 80's & 90's

[brockcroy]

Awesome videos. I had a BMW K1600GT, and man, what a beautiful sound, performance, and reliability. They make amazing inline 6's.

[cleveland]

YouTube algorithm must b out of wack, bruh I haven't seen ur vids in literal years lol. Glad ur still doing ur thing....

[samthingthetrack]

Yes it is a great motor, I mostly rebuilt one and put it in an e36. I have been using Redline oil and Ceratec, and it is a low oil consumer. I did have one oil analysis and it was excellent. I have shimmed it twice, and early but it shows no major wear. I am not properly geared for it with a 3.23 diff but that's ok I drive it to track days. I may change to a 3.46 or drop it to a lower value so I can use 2nd gear more, otherwise I will be using 3 and 4 mostly. The ratios are the same for the ZF until overdrive with the 6.

[Ramsi-Berlin]

Yeah, it's one of the best engine's of all time ❣️👌🏼
With the carbon airbox, it sounds so awesome... like a racecar ❕
Love from Berlin 🇩🇪
Ramsi 🙋🏻‍♂️

[elroyfudbucker]

Interesting, at 1:17 he shows an M3 accelerating hard on a mountain road in Victoria, Australia. Possibly Gippsland or the Dandenong ranges judging by the big trees..

[digitalgulby]

I had a E46 M3, titanium silver with 6spd. Great car. Regret selling it.

[themadscientest]

Fantastic timing, I'm on an inline 6 kick right now! Found a dream car for sale but I can't afford it.

[erickrayos]

This made me miss my M3 so much... it's been 3 years since I last saw it.... its still sitting waiting for me to come back in my storage... Being stationed overseas sucks T-T

[MrLense]

I wouldn't say there's a lack of a successor, I'd argue the Current going B58 with its potential to reach 1000hp with Forged parts is worthy. And best part, you can afford one in the 140i and 240i

[LadyAnuB]

I like the Australian setting for the video

[mirzha]

The "54" SERIES of motors are all amazing