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Motor 1
5 days ago
- Automotive
- Motor 1
Why BMW's B58 Is a True Successor to the Toyota 2JZ
I remember being fairly skeptical when first hearing the MkV Toyota Supra would use a BMW straight-six. Obviously, BMW was the keeper of the straight-six flame when other automakers embraced V-6s, but in supplying Toyota, its turbo 'six would have big shoes to fill. The MkIV Supra's 2JZ twin-turbo engine is legendary for its durability, with tuners regularly getting 1,000 horsepower. But over the years, I learned an important lesson—never count out Bayerische Motoren Werke when it comes to matters of, uh, motors. The B58 3.0-liter single-turbo straight-six in the Supra and so many other BMW models is a legend in its own time. A more than worthy successor to the 2JZ, and one of the best engines on sale today. This story was available to our newsletter subscribers before it hit the website. Want early access? Sign up below. back Sign up For more information, read our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use . "There are tuners that are making 700-plus horsepower on stock engines, maybe with some camshafts, turbo upgrade, a tune and some stuff, with stock rods and pistons," says Papadakis Racing founder Stephan Papadakis, who builds 1,000-hp B58s for Formula Drift. "They definitely overbuilt the engine." It's the same deal with the 2JZ. This was a product of Japan's bubble era, where automakers like Toyota had so much extra cash on hand that they went straight into development. And this was Toyota, a company that did (and does) reliability like no one else. The 2JZ's iron block is, in the truest sense of the word, a lump, ready to handle whatever amount of boost you want to throw at it. It also has a super-strong three-piece head gasket, a forged steel crank, and a girdle bolted to the block to improve rigidity. In many ways, it's a lot more like a diesel truck engine than a gas car engine. Photo by: BMW The B58's aluminum block looks almost wispy in comparison to the 2JZ's, but looks can be deceiving. 'It's very elegantly designed,' Papadakis says. The difference between the bottom of a 2JZ and a B58 reflects decades of progress in the auto industry. Toyota developed the 2JZ in the 1980s, when computer-aided design (CAD) was still in its infancy. Papadakis points out that CAD is so advanced now, and along with tools like finite element analysis (FEA), and better metallurgy helps in creating components that are ultra-weight-optimized, but still incredibly strong. Which is why the B58's block looks almost shrink-wrapped by comparison to the 2JZ's, yet it also has the strength to support 1,000-hp builds. Like so many automakers, BMW worked a lot of modularity into the B58. It's closely related to the B38 three-cylinder and B48 four-cylinder used extensively in the BMW and Mini lineup, but it also has a lot in common with B57 diesel six-cylinder, an engine designed for compression ratios of up to 16.5:1. The basic castings of the B57 and B58 block are the same, and both share a 'closed-deck' construction, where the openings for the coolant passages around the cylinders are largely closed off. In a technical training manual for the B58, BMW says a closed-deck design 'is mainly reserved for BMW diesel engines. Due to the high combustion pressures in the diesel engine, a greater degree of rigidity is required in order that the forces can be safely absorbed.' But because the basic casting of the B58 is the same as the B57, it benefits from the closed-deck construction, too. The 2JZ also used a closed-deck design for strength. Both B57 and B58 use a similar forged steel crankshaft, and also of note, the B58 gets forged connecting rods too. Sharing components between diesel and gas engines is a win-win-win for BMW. It saves costs, reduces manufacturing complexity, but also makes for a much stronger gas engine. And that's why, like with the 2JZ, you see tuners pushing monster outputs on B58s. Photo by: BMW The B58 has a good head on its shoulders, too. Like a lot of modern BMW engines, the B58 uses Valvetronic, BMW's unique infinitely variable intake valve-lift system, paired with Double VANOS variable valve timing. Valvetronic uses an electric motor to rotate an eccentric shaft, which, via rocker arms, changes intake valve lift. What's very clever—though not unique to the B58—is that Valvetronic allows so much variability in lift, it allows the intake valves to function as the engine's throttle. BMWs with Valvetronic have a traditional throttle body, but it mostly stays wide open—when you put your foot down, you're actually controlling the Valvetronic system. Papadakis was skeptical of the system at first, with some of the components appearing fragile. "We looked at that and we're like 'Oh man, this looks like it's going to be very RPM limited. Should we figure out a way to remove it?'" But it ended up working fine. In fact, Valvetronic has proven to be 'extremely reliable' up to 9,000 rpm, Papadakis says. For his Formula Drift engines, Papadakis uses billet camshafts from Kelford Cams and stronger valve springs and retainers from Supertech. That's all you really need for a bulletproof head on a 1,000-hp B58 build. The engine builder also highlights the stock oiling system. It's a traditional wet sump with a variable-displacement pump, which essentially gives you oil volume on demand. Papadakis says it's another stock component good for a season of 9,000-rpm drift runs. He does change a number of components for reliability at the horsepower levels a Formula Drift car needs. There's the aforementioned cams and valve springs, plus pistons, a larger turbo, and a custom exhaust manifold, and port instead of the standard direct fuel injection. Plus, new engine management. BMW has also updated the B58 in the 10 years it's been in production. In 2018, BMW introduced a "Technical Update" with revised fueling and cooling systems, plus an exhaust manifold integrated into the cylinder head, and a simpler timing system. This helped boost power while reducing emissions. Photo by: BMW The second update, which came in 2022, went even further. BMW adopted a dual-fuel injection system with both direct and port injection, and implemented a new electric actuation for the VANOS system. The Valvetronic system also got major updates, and BMW standardized a 48-volt mild-hybrid system. I recently had a chance to drive this engine in the X3 M50, and performance improvements are immediately noticeable. And it delivered much better fuel economy than its predecessor. BMW told Motor1 , "[the] focus in the latest [B58] was to meet as many global requirements as possible with as few technical variants as possible. Still: you can also expect performance enhancements in the future of this engine. Stay tuned." Papadakis believes that the B58 is a true successor to the 2JZ. It's also a very interesting way to show how much engines have evolved in the last 30-some-odd years. The B58 does basically everything a 2JZ does, but in a smaller, lighter, more efficient package, while also conforming to increasingly strict and distinct regulations around the globe. The moral of the story? Don't count BMW out. Not when it comes to straight sixes. More Deep Dives Giamaro's Quad-Turbo V-12 Is Insane: 'The King of Engines' How Oil Analysis Reveals Your Engine's Secrets Share this Story Facebook X LinkedIn Flipboard Reddit WhatsApp E-Mail Got a tip for us? Email: tips@ Join the conversation ( )
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
These Cars Weren't BMWs, But They Still Had BMW's Inline-6
The mighty inline-6 (also known as a straight-six or I6) was once a common sight, powering any number of models from around the world. In the last few decades, however, the V6 has more or less replaced it, since it takes up less space. For that matter, turbocharged engines with fewer cylinders altogether really seem to be the direction the industry is moving in. In the long run, with the electrification of the industry, there may not be that many engines at all soon enough. But BMW never lost faith. A believer in the inline-6 since the 1930s, the Bavarian juggernaut still makes the layout today. The current B58 model, a turbocharged inline-6, is a remarkably versatile piece of machinery, powering everything from the performance-minded M340i hot sedan to the comfort-oriented X7 SUV. BMW inline-6s have a fantastic blend of fuel efficiency, reliability, and good old-fashioned horsepower. They're so good that, over the years, a number of other makes have chosen to use it in their models. From Japanese superstars to small Italian badges you've never heard of, from track hounds to tough off-roaders, here are cars that had a BMW I6 engine without the BMW badge on the hood. Read more: These V6 Engines Put The LS1 V8 To Shame For 20 years, the Toyota Supra was a halo car -- one of those universally beloved sports cars that somehow managed to be both fast and affordable. In particular, its legendary 2JZ engine is often considered one of the best ever made, both stock and, especially, once tuners got their oily hands on it. Then a funny thing happened: Supras ended production in 2002, and Toyota never made a straight-6 again. So when the Japanese manufacturer delighted their fans by announcing the return of the Supra in 2019, they also had a bombshell to drop. This new Supra would not feature a Toyota-made I6, a successor to the 2JZ. In fact, it would not feature a Toyota-made engine at all. Instead, the modern-day Supra rocks a B58, the same 3.0-liter BMW inline-6 that goes in the M340i. Why wouldn't Toyota make a so-called 3JZ? Simply put, it takes a lot of research and development (R&D) money to design an engine. And since Toyota doesn't make straight-6s at all anymore, it just didn't make financial sense to spend the company's budget on one model, particularly a lower-volume enthusiast model like the Supra. So Toyota had to look outside, and these days, if you're looking for a performance-focused I6, there's really only one game in town. Therefore, the Supra has a Toyota body filled with BMW muscle, making 382 horsepower. When a specific model you love goes out of production, there's nothing to do but remember the good old days -- unless you've got some serious cash flow, obviously. In 2016, Land Rover announced it would discontinue the long-running Defender in its decades-old form. That caused chemicals magnate and Defender die-hard Sir John Ratcliffe to just build it himself, which by now, has already cost him billions of dollars. He spun up a new automotive division of the conglomerate he ran, Ineos, got a Defender look-alike designed, and then named it after his local pub, the Grenadier. And so, the world once again has a new hard-edged tough-guy off-roader, meant to tackle rocky terrain in any weather. As you might expect, a brand-new automotive badge from a company with no history in the industry didn't want to try to design its own engine. So to give the Grenadier the grunt it would need to muscle through the great outdoors, Ineos sought out BMW's B58, which gave the Grenadier 282 horsepower with 331 pound-feet of torque. Boldmen is a relatively new sports car manufacturer, so new that it still only makes a single sports car, the CR4. As a two-door convertible roadster with a rather pronounced hood, you might be forgiven for thinking that it was a BMW Z4. Turns out, you'd basically be right. Boldmen essentially took the Bimmer, built an entirely new body around the chassis, and then tuned up all that Bavarian machinery inside. That includes, naturally, the turbocharged 3-liter inline-6 that goes into the original car, the B58. The bold men of Boldmen have extensively modified that engine, though, so that it develops more horsepower, torque, and smiles while you're driving it. The retuned engine now makes 408 hp and 450 lb-ft of torque in the base trim. At the higher S trim, it makes a whopping 500 hp with 516 lb-ft of torque. It's fair to say that this is a track-focused spec, then. A small manufacturer that still builds all its cars by hand, Morgan produces handsome performance cars that are generally geared more towards being lightweight rather than sporting massive power. The chassis is even made out of ash wood. If there is a brand out there today that still believes in cars as works of art and not of industry, it's Morgan. However, Morgan still needs an engine to power its art, and for its Plus Six model, which only just ceased production in 2025, the company used BMW's turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-6 engine, the B58. The engine is good for 335 hp, which, combined with the two-door roadster's weight of merely 1.3 tons, gives it a 0-62 miles per hour time of just 4.2 seconds. It's a front-engine layout, giving that car its signature long hood, while also providing it with class and elegance when it's passing Cybertrucks on the highway. A smaller German manufacturer that only produced cars for about 20 years in the '90s and '00s, Wiesmann intended to create roadsters that combined class and elegance with speed and power. Its first car in 1993 was the MF30 Roadster, which was considered lightweight thanks to its fiberglass body. To power it, the company struck a partnership with BMW to use its 3.0-liter inline-6 from its M performance division, the M54. That was good for 228 hp, not a beast but not bad for the early '90s. The MF30 was later updated into the MF3, which instead sported a 3.2-liter S54 engine with a beefier 343 hp. Both models were good-looking cars that could, as their lizard logo suggested, stick to the road like a gecko to a wall. Sadly, the brand as a whole never did quite catch on, and the company folded in 2013. Though it has been resurrected by a new owner with plans for a revival, the new cars aren't planned to carry straight-6s. For a short while in the 1990s, the venerable British stalwart Land Rover was owned by BMW. So while the classic Defender model continued to be a diesel-powered off-roader with an in-house engine, the door was open to start using BMW engines instead if the company wanted to. Land Rover South Africa decided to give it a go with the 2.8-liter inline-6 from BMW's performance shop M, the M52, available in the region from 1997-2002. The engine made 190 hp and 207 lb-ft of torque. Critically, it was a gas-powered engine, which was not otherwise available in a Defender at the time. Even with the SUV available in Africa, this engine never made its way to other Land Rovers around the world, making it something of a rarity. After 2000, BMW washed its hands of the whole brand anyway, marking an end to its engines inside the boxy Brits. As a small Italian make that made a valiant, if ultimately unsuccessful, effort to challenge the SUV market, Rayton-Fissore is more or less known (if you know them at all) for the Magnum -- rebranded as the Laforza in the United States. In typical Italian fashion, the manufacturer decided that luxury SUVs weren't luxurious enough, and so produced a model with gorgeous, leather-clad interior that was meant more for the parking lots of five-star hotels than muddy off-roading. Over the years and trims, the Magnum was offered with a wide range of different engine sizes and layouts from a number of different manufacturers. However, in 1988 and 1989, the Magnum received the M30, a 3.4-liter inline-6 from BMW. This version of the engine, the M30B35, produced 208 hp and 225 lb-ft of torque. The M30 is a venerable piece of machinery, and the single longest-produced engine that BMW ever made, running from 1968-1995. Unfortunately, it was unable to power the Magnum to huge sales, and Rayton-Fissore essentially remains a footnote in automotive history. Japanese carmaker Daihatsu never did leave a big footprint in the West, but as one of the nation's oldest manufacturers, it's been quietly pumping out trucks, off-roaders, and smaller cars for decades. In the 1980s, they took a shot squarely at Land Rover with their boxy Rugger SUV, meant to be a tough but affordable four-wheel drive that could get you out of the city and into the wilderness. However, an Italian coachbuilder, Bertone, being Italian, decided it wasn't fashionable enough. So in 1989, the company built a variant of the Rugger by giving it a makeover, with plusher seats, more leather, and a new grill and roof. It also decided to give it a little more oomph, and to do that, it pulled in a BMW straight-6. Actually, it pulled in two: the turbodiesel 2.4-liter M21 and the 2.0-liter M20. Bertone tried to sell the off-roader, which they'd renamed the Freeclimber, around Europe. However, it never quite caught on and not many were ever made. Production ceased in 1992 after only a few years. While Alpina has long been its own manufacturer selling its own models, all its vehicles are based on BMWs. It does so in close connection with the bigger company, making Alpina something of BMW's little cousin; in fact, BMW acquired Alpina outright in 2022. Current models on sale include the diesel-powered D3 and D4 as well as 98-octane gas options, which include the B3 (based on the BMW 335i) and the B4 (based on the 435i). Even though these are Alpina cars, it's always retained the BMW badge, even before its acquisition, showcasing the tight relationship between the two companies. These models also all retain BMW's twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-6 engine, the performance-spec S58. Alpina has modded that powerhouse a lot, though, including adding in smaller turbochargers and redesigned intakes and exhausts. That nets out to 495 hp and 538 lb-ft for both the 2023 B3 and B4 models. That makes them more powerful than their newest M cousins who are at 437 hp and 406 lb-ft. Want more like this? Join the Jalopnik newsletter to get the latest auto news sent straight to your inbox... Read the original article on Jalopnik.
