The Updated BMW S58 Engine is Going to be Crazy...

Added: 2026-05-20

[00:00:00]All right, guys. We are back in my garage for  another video. And today, we're going to be talking about the new BMW M Ignite system. And  if you read the press materials, then you'll see they basically [clears throat] say that this is  a highly efficient new development that makes its series production debut in BMW Models and enables  a significant reduction in fuel consumption under high loads. The new ignition process is a prime  example of the transfer of technology from racing cars to series production models and helps to  meet the requirements of the EU7 standard. Now, of course, this is in English, but I feel like it  needs a translation. It just isn't quite reading clearly what it should say. So, I translated  it, and what it actually means is we had to do this because of EU7. It's that simple, guys.  Obviously, this is an emissionsdriven change, but the good news is the technology is pretty  cool and should add a lot of capability to the BMW M cars we all love. And so, I did a lot more  digging to understand exactly how it works, what the benefits are, of course, what the drawbacks  are, and I have some thoughts on some things that could be coming that BMW didn't quite specify,  but I think we'll be seeing in the pipeline. So, I'll share all of that with you guys  in this video so you can have a better understanding of what we can expect. And  hopefully you guys find this video useful.

[00:01:31]Now, before we jump into it, I'm curious.  I think probably some of you guys have no idea what I'm talking about, but maybe some of you  have already read a little bit into this and have an idea and you just want to get a little more  info. So, regardless of your current position, what are you thinking right now at the current  face value? Do you think this will be a great upgrade that adds a lot of capability to the  cars or do you think it's just adding a lot of complexity and cost and going to make the cars  super expensive and less reliable? As always, I'm curious to hear your thoughts. So, leave a comment  down below and let me know what you're thinking.

[00:02:03]But let's jump into the details here. So again,  this is the BMW M Ignite system, and this is a new technology. They said they patented back in  2024. So they've been working on it for a while, but it is not something that's completely new  to the automotive space. What they are going to be implementing is pre-chamber ignition.  And the way that this works is we're going to have two completely separate ignition systems.  And you can kind of see it in this video that they shared on the BMW M page where on one side  you're going to have a conventional spark plug and a conventional coil pack that ignites your air  fuel mix just like normal. But separate from that, you're going to have a completely separate  set of spark plugs and coil packs that are built into these pre-chamber housings. And what a  pre-chamber is, it's basically a small cylinder, very similar to your main combustion chamber,  just much smaller in size. and it has little holes in it so that air can flow in and out. So,  the benefit is during the compression stroke when your piston is moving up after you've already  sprayed some fuel into your air, you got your air fuel mixture going on, it's going to push some  of that air fuel mixture into the pre-chamber.

[00:03:12]And then you're going to ignite the spark plug  inside of the pre-chamber. And when that sparks, it is going to combust the air fuel mix in  there. and it's going to shoot it out the holes, and I quote, at around the speed of sound. So,  obviously, there's going to be a lot of pressure and velocity built up around that air fuel  mixture, but the way that it's going to come out of the holes is going to help ignite the larger  air fuel mix in the main combustion chamber, so you get a much more complete and efficient  burn. So, this might sound very similar if you've looked at like the B-58 technical training  materials. It shows how they tried to optimize the fuel spray pattern from the injector so  you can get a more uniform and efficient burn from the combustion chamber. This is kind of  matching that but from the ignition side. So now you're basically igniting a spark inside of that  pre-chamber and shooting out a very hot air fuel mixture to burn everything in the combustion  chamber much more efficiently. So naturally that means you're going to get better fuel economy.  You're going to get a much more efficient burn.

[00:04:13]You're also going to burn it faster. You're going  to reduce the chance of knock, which can support higher horsepower levels, and it can reduce your  exhaust gas temperatures. So, a lot of benefits that all translate to better emissions. Now,  of course, it's not just a hardware change cuz if you're going to be adding components, then you  also need software in order to control everything.

[00:04:33]So, the way that it generally is supposed to  work is under low load when you're just kind of cruising and driving around, the traditional  conventional ignition system will be your main thing that you're using. So, it's going to  ignite the air fuel mixture and then after that, the pre-chamber will also briefly ignite to  complete the burn. So, you're leaning on your conventional ignition system under those lowload  scenarios because the air is at slow speeds. It's going to be very turbulent and inefficient anyway.  So there's not just as much gain to be had during that scenario. Now, under high load scenarios  where you're running high boost levels and really shoving air into the combustion chamber, that's  when the pre-chamber ignition system is going to shine. So when you've got everything built up,  it's going to be able to take advantage of that pre-chamber ignition. Your conventional ignition  system won't fire at all, and that will get you the full complete and efficient burn that you're  looking for. So it's really only focused on those high load scenarios. Now, the benefit there is  obviously when you're racing your car, it's going to be much more efficient. And that's where they  say that this is race inspired technology that they're pulling from Formula 1 because obviously  those cars are running wide openen throttle a lot more often. And it's imperative if you want to  get as much fuel economy out of those cars. As weird of a concept it might seem, you're going  to want something that works more efficiently at high load. And in a race car, that means less  pit stops, you know, less needing to refuel, which means you finish your race faster. So obviously  a really big benefit for them. Now, the way BMW is marketing this is BMW M cars are also designed  to go to the track. And I highlighted in my car, when I go to the track, I usually go through a  half tank of gas in a 20minut session or so. So if you're planning on driving your car and  enjoying it as much as possible, the last thing you want to have to worry about is getting  off track to fill up in order to get back on.

[00:06:22]So, for an MC car, if you're going to be tracking  it, this will allow you to get much more seat time without having to worry about, you know, when your  fuel's running low and fuel starvation and stuff like that. You'll just get much more time out of  the car without having to worry about the annoying stuff. But yeah, with all that in mind, what does  it really mean? And in my opinion, there are a couple things that we can take away from this  that maybe BMW didn't spell out specifically. The biggest thing is I feel like this is essentially  an S58 TU. They're not calling it as such. They're acting like it's just going to be a rolling change  that's implemented in the next couple months. But there are a lot of hardware changes coming with  this. It's not just the BMW M Ignite system.

[00:07:00]They're also upgrading the turbos to variable  geometry turbos. They're also increasing the compression of the engine. And so I feel like  there's a lot of things that are going to be happening that could effectively classify this as  an S58 technical update or an S58, you know, Gen 2. So we'll see if they ever, you know, name it as  such. But this is going to be a pretty significant change. I also think that the M ignition system is  going to allow it to be much more capable than it used to be. Even though these cars are slated to  come out with the exact same horsepower and torque rating, so they're not going to actually add any  performance to the cars, the Mignite system, like I said, allows it to run a lot more efficiently,  so you can make more power with the same amount of fuel. The variable geometry turbos will allow  the car to make much quicker spool times down low, but carry much more power up top. So, it's  going to be extremely capable in stock form.

[00:07:52]And even the high compression is going to make the  car much more responsive. So, I feel like overall there's just going to be a lot more headroom in  the car. And another thing I think that's coming, you heard it here first, is port injection. I know  this is something that we've all been waiting on because if you look at the S58 intake manifold,  it already basically has provisions for port injection. They're just blocked off. And in the  aftermarket, they figured out you can just drill out the holes, install some port injectors, and  run it with a reflex and control it like normal.

[00:08:21]But we always kind of anticipated that if that  was already built into the design of the intake manifold, at some point it would come down the  line. But CS models came out, CSL models came out, and just none of them have port injection paired  with a factory S58 engine. But now that this is coming out, again, in my mind, I'm looking at  it as an S58 TU. It's going to be very similar to the Gen 3 B58 that also came out to address  some emissions concerns. So that car could be carried into the future. I just feel like this is  going to be the time that port injection comes. So I might be wrong. They didn't put it in any of  their materials, but all signs are leading to this is when that change is going to happen. But  that does bring a downside because we could have all that capability. And if it's like the Gen  3 B58, it's also going to come with a new DME, which will also require its own unlock, which  means we're starting over the clock. So, we'll kind of have to wait and see if that is  actually the case. It's a little unfortunate cuz we won't be able to push the platform to see what  it's capable of anytime soon. But I think that will definitely be a gamecher when that capability  comes together. But overall, I don't think this is anything new for BMW. It's basically very similar  to what they did with the F87. Originally that came out with the N55 and then when new emissions  requirements came out, they added the S55 and called it the M2 Competition and sold it to  everybody as this huge performance upgrade, which it did add capability, but they didn't just do it  out of the generosity of their hearts. they had to do it to meet these new emissions requirements.  And this is the exact same thing. They're going to market it to us as this performance upgrade and  something that makes M cars more like race cars.

[00:09:59]But in reality, I don't think this ever would  have come without the EU7 requirements. And we're seeing this across all German brands. Porsche,  Audi, Volkswagen, they're all making changes to meet these requirements because, of course,  they want to continue selling cars over in Europe.

[00:10:15]So, it should be expected that change is going to  have to come. It's just, you know, how it's going to be. The other thing that's interesting is I  said initially BMW highlighted that they patented this technology back in 2024. And so, I did a  little bit of digging and I did find a patent.

[00:10:31]I don't know if this is the patent. There may be  others or something, you know, more inclusive of all of what they're planning on doing. But what  this highlights is that they are looking at a way to basically modify a traditional pre-chamber  ignition system to work at more different loads.

[00:10:47]So they have some with like different chambers  in the pre-chambers and like a wall or a door that can open and close it looks like to allow it  to not only operate most efficiently at high load but also give benefits at low load scenarios. So  this looks extremely complex. We'll have to wait and see when it actually comes out in cars if that  actually ends up being implemented or maybe this was just an idea that they wanted to throw out  there and lock in in case they could ever make it happen. You know, a patent doesn't actually  guarantee anything at the end of the day. But it definitely is something interesting to look at  and I'll have that linked down below in case you want to read the patent for yourself. So, with  all that in mind, you might be wondering when is BMW Mignite coming and the good news is the EU7  requirements are coming very quickly. we actually have to have that stuff implemented by November of  this year. So BMW highlighted that we can expect to see the Mignite system on M3s and M4s in July  production vehicles and M2s in August production vehicles. So again, it's going to be coming very  soon. Hopefully they will also be issuing a press release for, you know, how they normally do for  the new model years or big updates. They'll say it's the new M3 or the allnew M2. And maybe in  those materials they'll share more details about the S58. That kind of confirms what I'm already  suspecting, but we'll just kind of have to wait and see. At this point, they really just focused  on the ignition system and tried to highlight that to help build up some hype. So, more coming soon  as always, but let me know. Has anything I said changed your opinion? Are you leaning one way or  the other and how this is going to work? You think these cars are going to be great and in the future  everybody will love them or is it just going to make things much more complex and more expensive  outside of warranty? You know, I guess time will tell with that. But for now, I think that's it  for this video. So, thank you guys for watching and I hope this helps. And if you have any other  questions or comments, leave them down below.