S14 - Overrrated or Underrated?

[E30SPDFRK]

Great engines when viewed with 35 year old glasses. It's a very cool vintage motorsport engine that can made to perform really well for its age (and is one of the best sounding engines out there), but as a modern street engine, its pretty underwhelming. The 2.5 crank is almost necessary if you plan on driving it daily. The high HP ones take a lot of work to get there, and don't have a long lifespan when you do. It's possible to make 300+ hp on a race engine, but don't expect more than ~240-whp on a still streetable engine.

[BlackbirdM3]

Its a brilliant engine. Its great on the street, reliable, take it to the track and let it sing. Can it benefit from some minor bolt on mods? Yep, a light flywheel is an awesome upgrade, but that is true on almost any performance engine. A bigger set of cams, yeah, maybe. A better chip, yes. My car drives so much better with an aftermarket IIGO chip vs stock.

Does it make a mile of torque at 500rpm? No, its not a diesel truck engine. Low end torque is overrated, especially when its out of breath at 5k rpm. Its much like driving a turbo engine that has a slightly too large turbo. It takes a moment for things to spool up, but okay, not a big deal. Do you really need to do a burnout from idle? IF yes, rev it, drop the clutch and roast away. The real answer is, no. There is no reason to need to roast the tires from a stop sign. It gets great mileage rolling down the freeway at 80. Yep its turning 3400(ish) rpm, who cares. Its not like its working hard. Take it to the track and spin it to 8K all day long, and then do it again the following day, and then drive it home.

As for expense to maintain, after 13 years of owning one, I haven't found what is that expensive to maintain. Any 16 valve engine 4cyl is going to cost $$$$ to rebuild. Valve adjustment is easy, but you do have to have a small amount of knowledge on how to work on mechanical things. There are no rocker arm assemblies to fail, the rod bearings are wide enough they won't just fail. (Unlike and S54.) If the rod bearings do need to be replaced for some reason, they can be done in the car. It was designed as a race engine, so doing stuff in the car is for the most part, not that bad.

We got screwed here in the states with a very detuned engine, but still, 192 hp isn't bad. Its not that heavy of a car. Still, I'd rather have gotten the Euro spec engine that was 212hp. Or, the Evo 2 version that had a different set of cams, and a different chip that made 217. Oh, yeah that 2.5 liter version, 235hp. That is only 5 hp less than the S52 (Which is barely an S engine at all. Yep there is a big torque difference there, but also a big weight difference as well. The main reason BMW chose the S14 over a 6cyl was weight. They figured the lack of weight was a great tradeoff for less torque, and I agree. After driving my M3 for the past 13 years, if I get in a normal E30 or E36, the first thing I notice is the very forward weight bias. Its not a good tradeoff. In the case of an E36, yep its got more power and torque, but god do they handle poorly. The front end is just too heavy. An E30 is better, but I wouldn't say its good. This is part of the reason the E30 M3 is such a legendary car, and all the M3s that have followed have failed to live up to the fame (Checks internet for most winning touring car in history... Oh yeah still the E30 M3.)

If one likes V8s they won't like an S14 as its a totally different creature. Personally I can't stand V8s. They sound like shit, tend to be too wide (screw 90 degree engines) have pushrods, counter shafts, and other crap that.V6s also sound like crap and suffer similar issues. Straight 6s sound beautiful, as to V12s. Neither one is going to be really light however.

The S14 is an amazing engine, that isn't for everyone. Its a limited production engine, but a very well designed and executed one. Yep its got some harmonics at high rpm, Okay so what? All large displacement 4 cyl engines do. Yep, a straight 6 or V12 is smooth as silk (usually) I'm not going to argue that. Still, they suffer from weight issues.

Personally I like race engines. I like max torque above 6K rpm, and redline beyond 7500 rpm. This combo makes for a much more fun and engaging experience to drive. If this isn't you, then yeah, the S14 isn't for you. Go find a truck engine and enjoy.

Will

[McGyver]

What mods are a MUST?

Do you have one now? Or getting one soon?

[reelizmpro]

It depends on how you use it. Now remember it was built for racing a lightweight car around a track. The detuned version had to be made for the street car for the M3 to exist. This distinction needs to be made because most expect the modded version and are disappointed with the street version, although 192 or 215HP from a 4 cylinder 2.3 was the most HP per liter of any production engine at the time. By nature you have to Rev the piss out of it to reach peak power which is perfect for open roads but not so much in stop and go traffic.

I drove mine daily in the late 90's and grew tired of it. In city traffic, it feels slower than most cars. Instead of swapping in a 24v, I bought an 88 325iS to use as a daily driver. The 325i does many things well. The M3 does only one thing well. Love it or hate it, but that's what it was designed to do.

With values increasing, the nice low miles stock ones fetch a premium but I guarantee you those are the ones that will disappoint you the most when you drive them especially since they are only getting older. Drive a well sorted, modified car and it's closer to the true experience of how it was intended. The street (stock) engine is overrated nowadays because technology has advanced. The modified engine is underrated because it can make 330+HP from a NA 4 cylinder, the problem is few can afford to do it as it's very expensive and isn't going to be as reliable.

Many may not realize this but BMW has a catalog of motorsport parts specifically for the S14. So it's a lot more than the common 2.5 stroker kit. There's an upgrade for nearly every single part. The street engine while good, is a far cry from the race version.

[MrBurgundy]

The extra displacement really would help the shit part of driving an s14 on the streets... but even then, its a strung out 4 banger... Sounds like a 4 banger.... 4 banger is forever meh- with the exception of some carbed ones.

The s14 is also expensive to maintain... If I had an e30 M3, I would sell the s14 and put an S5x in it.

I've seen some S14s sell for like 25k for the 2.3 variant..

OVERRATED

[2mAn]

s14 sucks on the street. Perfect for track weapon.

What mods are a MUST?

[mavrikno13764]

s14 sucks on the street. Perfect for track weapon.

[2mAn]

Seems like more and more I am hearing that the S14 is an overrrated motor. Is this true? Is it ONLY true on a stock S14B23? Does a 2.5L change that ? I've even seen a 2.7L conversion with a square 95/95 setup now...

Discuss