BMW S14 - What makes it GREAT? ICONIC ENGINES #6

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It's time for our first ever non-Japanese engine on Iconic engines, and we are starting with something pretty special, the engine that is likely BMW's best ever 4 cylinder. The legendary S14 four cylinder engine that powered the BMW E30 M3.

The BMW S14 engine is actually a Frankenstein engine, this being the case not because BMW was cutting costs, but because one of the greatest engine designers of all time, Mr. Paul Rosche had already designed so many great engines for BMW that there was no reason to work from scratch. The goal of the S14 was to turn the BMW E30 into a DTM champion. Initial plants to shove a straight six into an E30 M3 were abandoned in favor of a lighter four cylinder that could rev higher. A lighter engine meant lower weight and better weight distribution and balance which can be a lot more important than outright power in racing and motor sport.

So the BMW s14 engine got an M10 engine block, an M88 cylinder head (with two combustion chambers amputated) and some sexy ITBs. The S14 and BMW e30 M3 combo were so good that the BMW e30 m3 became the most successful touring car of all time. When it comes to touring car championships and Group A racing the BMW e30 m3 won pretty much everything.

When it comes to the specs the S14 engine has 93.4 mm of bore and 84 mm of stroke. This gives us an over-square engine design which makes sense because the BMW S14 was designed to spend most of it's time in the high rev range. However, the basic 2.3 liter version, S14B23 wasn't the only available displacement for the S14. Italian and Portuguese markets got a 2.0 liter version which was created by reducing the stroke, while Europe got the 2.5 liter EVO 3 engine at the end of the BMW e30 m3 production run. On top of the cast iron M10 engine block we can find a aluminum alloy cylinder head with dual over head camshafts (DOHC) and a bucket and shim on top of a bucket pushing onto the valves. The camshafts are chain driven and the chain is a good dual row design which doesn't cause any issues. The same can't be said about the S14 chain tensioners, BMW used several different versions and some caused problems with chain stretch and wear. This is why many S14 owners choose to upgrade to the S50 or S52 chain tensioner. The camshafts have 240 degrees of duration and a very impressive 10 mm of lift on both the intake and the exhaust. The power output of the BMW s14 ranged from 189 hp to 235hp for the EVO 3 engine. The US market received only the 192 2.3 liter S14 engine which made 192 hp and had a catalytic converter.

When it comes to tuning the bmw s14 engine really is a racing engine adapted to use in normal traffic. As such it's incredibly fun to drive hard even if you don't tune it. You have to understand that this engine needs to be driven hard to be enjoyed, it makes all of it's performance in the top 1000 - 2000 rpms, so if you think it's slow or doesn't have any torque you really are missing the point. How to get more power? For mild tuning you won't be touching the intake or the exhaust manifold because you really won't gain anything there. Some mild camshafts will can get some gains, most will be gained by replacing the stock Bosch motronic ecu with a modern standalone ecu, if you know what you're doing with the fuel and ignition maps you can get some horses and also an aftermarket ecu will allow you to get rid of the stock flap style air flow meter which hampers performance. What about big NA power on the S14? Sure, just do what BMW did in the DTM. This will make you broke but you will have a road illegal engine that's massive fun. Wild cams, throttle slides instead of plates, crazy 4 into 1 headers, porting the intakes, increased displacement, increased compression, dry sump, and you can expect 350 hp. What about a turbo s14? Sure it can be done but be ready that the car will loose massive value. An alternative is to swap something into your e30 m3, get big power out of your system, conserve the s14 and then swap it back when you get bored of the s50 or whatever else you swapped in there. Supercharged S14? Yeah you can do that too, but good luck finding the parts.

Rap translation:
I have an awesome cylinder head
What are you waiting for, press the start button
I'm the fastest engine on the Hockenheim
I'm so fast there
Nobody can overtake me
My name is the BMW S14
and I'm the greatest engine you will ever see.

It all rhymes in German....I swear.
#d4a #iconicengines #e30m3 #e30 #m3 #s14
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