BMW’s new S58 engine that powers the X3 M, M3, and M4 is a step up from the previous M3’s old S55 engine in every way. That’s not to say the old engine was bad, though. The S55 was a great engine, it was just a bit too spikey in its delivery and made a gruff noise that wasn’t particularly pleasant. It did, however, have one attribute that still can’t be taken away — tuning potential.
You can tune an S55 engine to make epic amounts of power and power can come easy, with even just a simple ECU tune being capable of bumping it up almost 100 horses. However, if you fit any S55-equipped BMW with a Hybrid Charger from German tuning company Infinitas, it can make anywhere from 600 horsepower to 1,000 horsepower.
The Infinitas Hybrid Charger consists of mostly an additional compressor, which pre-charges the air for the turbochargers. This not only reduces boost time, sharpening response, but it allows for higher boost pressure and more power. The best part is that it still uses the OEM turbochargers.
Infinitas sells several different kits, with different levels of power. The starting point gives you the compressor, which comes with an oil supply circuit that uses the stock engine’s oil supply, an extended belt drive, new air intake, and an aluminum charge air cooler between the compressor and turbos. It also gets an engine tune. All of that bumps power to 600 horsepower and 590 lb-ft.
However, if you want even more power, you can step up to several different levels. The maximum you can get requires an upgrade of engine internals, to strengthen the engine enough to handle the power. Max power is said to be 1,000 horsepower and 811 lb-ft of torque, which is absolutely insane from a 3.0 liter inline-six.
This Infinitas Hybrid Charger system is available on any S55 engine BMW. So the F80 BMW M3, F82 BMW M4, and F87 BMW M2 Competition are all capable of making 1,000 horses from this Hybrid Charger setup. It might seem a bit crazy to drive any of those cars with 1,000 horsepower but hey, you only live once.
[Source: Infinitas]
