BMW S65 (4.0 and 4.4)

4.0 L · V8 · naturally aspirated · petrol · 2007–present

Also known as: s65, s65b40, 4.0 v8 m3, e92 m3 engine

BMW M's 4.0 V8 — the E90/E92 M3's engine, and the only V8 M3.

It is the S85 V10 with two cylinders removed, and that lineage is the most useful thing about it: individual throttle bodies, 8,400 rpm, and the same rod-bearing pattern. bmw-s85 in this catalogue carries the detail, and it applies here.

Preventive rod-bearing replacement is accepted practice, and oil analysis is how the question gets asked before an engine is stripped.

The throttle actuators are the second item and fail into a reduced-power mode with a code rather than quietly. They are rebuildable.

Oil grade, level and interval are not routine advice on an engine with these clearances and this rev range — most of what goes catastrophically wrong traces back to one of them.

⚑ The GTS and CRT are 4.4, not 4.0. The standard E90 M3 is the four-litre; the limited cars are bored out, and this catalogue carries one of them. A rod-bearing interval quoted for one is quoted for both, which is the fact most owners come for.

Cars fitted with this engine

1 generation, across 1 make. From the authored catalogue — an absent car means the catalogue has not reached it, not that the engine was never fitted.

BMW

3 Series E90 2005–2012

Information, not instruction

CarGeek is a reference, not a service manual. Its pages are written from public sources and from what other people have found, never from a manufacturer's own service information, so they can be wrong or incomplete for your particular vehicle. Some of what they describe carries real risk: high voltage, fuel under pressure, stored energy, hot and moving parts.

Have anything you intend to act on checked by a trained person against the manufacturer's own procedure for your vehicle. Nothing here replaces that procedure.

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