BMW
BMW as a brand was born in 1913 in Munich, Germany. Initially the company produced airplane engines, later moving on to motorcycle engines in 1923 and automobiles in 1928. The first engine for airplanes was a straight six, the same configuration which later brought BMW to the top of the game when it comes to car engines.
The world famous & industry revered 3.0 straight six platform was used in some of the best cars ever produced such as the E9 30 CSL, E36 M3, E46 M3 (CSL), E28 M5, E34 M5, Z3 M and many more. With the N54 generation (2007) BMW started adding turbos to the I6, giving them extreme tuning potential and bringing a new wave of popularity to BMW in the petrol-head world. We are currently at the 3rd generation of 3.0 I6 turbo platforms called B58 (the M version is not currently out yet) which has also been adopted by Toyota for its new Supra and tuning figures have already passed 800 bhp.
I’ve been personally lucky enough to own two versions of the I6. Currently I own an F31 335i, 6Mt, RWD with an N55 under the bonnet. Both hold a special place in my heart.
M2 Competition
This might just be one of the best M-cars ever produced. I’ve had the luck of driving one and someday I hope to own one, but for now I’m stuck with dreams.
The original M2 had an N55 engine with about 70 hp added. Luckily stricter emission regulations (probably the only time you will hear me say this) forced BMW to retire the N55, but they didn’t want to retire the M2 as well.
Any solutions? Put the S55 engine from the M3/M4!
But they didn’t stop there. They added the front carbon strut brace and a generally stiffer chassis, improved suspensions with lower center of gravity, quicker and more precise steering, bigger brakes, looser ESP, wider grilles, different bumpers and a few upgrades in the interior (but who cares about those?).