The M3's V8 put through its paces, and your speakers

Our friends abroad were able to procure a duo of audio samples that give the full aural range of the new V8 powering BMW's upcoming M3. The two tracks, which are available here through the PistonHeads website, include one sample of all eight cylinders working their way to crescendo and on to a theoretical road speed of 200 KM/H (124 MPH). The other track is a nine-minute run of the Nurburgring, which with the right imagination and good set of headphones will give you the perfect respite from you Saturday monotony. Enjoy.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
bmw122487 12:17PM (3/24/2007)
What a beautiful symphony, although the Carrera GT is still my favorite noise, i look forward to the new ultimate driving machine!!!
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Tal 12:36PM (3/24/2007)
No comparison to the Audi R8 which is simply awesome.
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Paul Paplinski 12:49PM (3/24/2007)
Music to my ears... :)
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PiCASSO 12:51PM (3/24/2007)
BTW, does anyone know how the Nürburgring portion is done?
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DPC car videos 12:52PM (3/24/2007)
Amazing sound certainly much better then the last gen 6 cylinder version. I agree the Audi V8 makes a truly magical sound but both the Audi V8 and BMW V8 make awesome sound and its a personal preference at this point.
http://www.dpccars.com
DPCcars
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HotRodzNKustoms 1:15PM (3/24/2007)
eh, it's not quite the howl I like from European motors and not quite the monsterous sound I like of an American V-8.... my favorite BMW motor sounds is that of the V-12 in the Mclaren F1 and the V-8 in the Morgans
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John P. 1:37PM (3/24/2007)
most glorious sound from a european motor for me had to be the v12 jag xjr GTP cars in the 80's, those were magical. You could close your eyes at the races and you just knew it was coming amongst those porsches/nissans/toyotas/fords/ferrari's etc,...
The nicest v8 sounds I ever heard are the 1960's ground pounding hemi motors from chrysler, and the smallblock ford shelby mustang gt350 happily revving to 7000+rpm, those are unforgettable.
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ruggels 2:02PM (3/24/2007)
"although the Carrera GT is still my favorite noise"
x2!!
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Deezee 2:38PM (3/24/2007)
Still doesnt sound as good as American V8's. Sorry. Its a better engine tho, theres no doubt about that.
It just cant compete in the sound department.
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James 2:43PM (3/24/2007)
A Borla or some other good brand of exhaust will fix the lack of good roar yall know that.
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RITmusic2k 3:06PM (3/24/2007)
I'm a little surprised that nobody has commented on that stunning photograph! I think that's a beautiful sight, and a good reminder of the absolute mayhem happening inside an I.C. engine.
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Tal 4:54PM (3/24/2007)
#11 You're absolutely correct.
That is a beautiful hot orange glow....HOT fire.
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ChrisC 5:43PM (3/24/2007)
Too bad the car they drop this in will most likely be butt ugly!
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david monk 10:02PM (3/24/2007)
"Too bad the car they drop this in will most likely be butt ugly!"
Posted at 5:43PM on Mar 24th 2007 by ChrisC
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Nah,it won't be American designed ,so it should be safe in the looks department.
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Chet 10:04PM (3/24/2007)
Only 202 kg? I think the Corvette's LS2 weighs that much. Of course, the LS2's only good for 400 hp and 400 ft-lbs, which is... oops.
But yeah, this engine's impressive.
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MikeW 10:30PM (3/24/2007)
Obnoxious crossplane crank V8, Where is the ferrari sounding sedan?
My biggest beefs are 1) crossplane crank V8 LRLLRLRR 2) lack of direct injection 3) no variable resonance manifold and single air filter.
Enough with the crappy LSx comparisons. Does the LSx have variable intake & exhaust valve timing?
Not until GM uses co-axial camshafts.
http://www.mechadyne-int.com/vva-products/concentric-camshafts
Does the LS2 guarantee oil supply in 1.4g turns
Does the LS have a multi-throttle system, spark plugs as knock sensors, variable output oil pump
Who cares if it is light if it doesn't do anything.
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MikeW 11:25PM (3/24/2007)
Does BMW have the new Nurburgring simulator? Wasn't there that new X5 video about. c~13:40
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8883608109876930111&q=BMW+nurburgring+X5&hl=en
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Dan 12:28AM (3/25/2007)
Hey Mike,
It's a crossplane V8, because it vibrates less. Unless you spend a ton to make it lightweight, flatplane V8 is an unrefined POS. Look at those V8s made in UK, they are no Ferraris mate. M3 is not an exotic, they had to do it this way.
Comparing M3's V8 with LS2/7 makes a lot of sense. LS2 has about the same power, same weight, and much more torque. LS2 also costs less to buy and most likely to own. LS2 does not have dry sump, but this one doesn't either. LS7 has dry sump. Can M3 sustain 1.4G? where did you read this cr@p?
Should LS2 have VVT, why? Increase HP/l? What for, if that does't bring down the weight and the dimensions of the engine? VVT/VTEC is just marketing nonsense. In the 60's there were plenty of engines doing 100hp/l and none had VVT. Motorcycle engines (4 stroke) do 200hp/l and have no VVT.
You can easily have impressive HP/l figures with an oversquare engine. DOHC engines should be seriously oversquare, otherwise slow-revving OHVs will always kick their asses with proper gearing.
Don't get me wrong, I like the engine. But some people don't get the context.
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Reuben 4:40AM (3/25/2007)
Personally, I think the old six sounded better, this one has a sense of F1 sound to it (not a bad thing), but the old six was such a unique sound... In any case, and it pains me to say this....so much.... but I think the recent sound clips of the lexus isf 500 sound better, lets just hope the bmw is worlds faster/better in the end. MAKE THE MANUAL STANDARD AT LAUNCH!
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Bob-o 4:41AM (3/25/2007)
"BTW, does anyone know how the Nürburgring portion is done?"
Its an engine dyno/simulation. They take the telemetry from a test car, and map the proper engine RPM and load given the acceleration and braking points taken from the data.
P.S. I don't care what technology it has. Think of an engine as black box. All it has is physical dimensions and weight. In goes gas, out comes horsepower. I don't care if its OHV or if it has VANOS, or if it makes 10000 hp/liter. As long as its reasonably lightweight, fits in my average engine bay, is reasonable to maintain, and gets decent gas mileage, I'll take it. And currently, the LS2/LS7 rules that realm.
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