Like it or not, after fifteen years of inline-sixes in the M3, the time has come to move on. The E92 M3 needs to compete against the 420-hp Audi RS4, so it needs more than the previous M3's 3.2 liters of displacement. BMW says cylinders larger than 500cc are less than ideal, so it had no choice but to go to a V-8.
Luckily for purists, BMW's M Division doesn't believe in turbocharging - they feel that it just adds weight and fuel consumption. Their solution is, instead, to extract power from engines by building them to sustain speeds heretofore enjoyed only by your trusty Osterizer.
8400 rpm, that is, making it the fastest high-volume V-8 in the world. And all that revving works - the 3999-cc, 90-degree cross-plane-crank V-8 frappés out 420 hp @ 8300 rpm and 295 lb-ft @ 3900 rpm. BMW hasn't finalized its U.S. M3 specifications - the 420 number is actually German horsepower, Pferdestärke, which is the equivalent of 414 U.S. horsepower. (Our horses are slightly stronger - they eat Wheaties.)
The engine, however, is rated at 309 kW, which is the same as the Audi RS4. Audi managed to certify that engine to both 420 PS (German) and 420 hp (US). We suspect BMW will do the same, because the M3's engine is nothing more than the latest bomb dropped in the German horsepower war, landing right on top of the RS4's pretty red V-8.
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