Each Automobile That Makes use of It

BMW’s S68 is a 4.4-liter twin-turbocharged V8 — and it’s now in additional locations than you may anticipate. When BMW changed its long-running N63 with an all-new engine in 2022, it made an uncommon name: construct solely the M-division model, the S68, and use it throughout the board. So subsequently, we received one engine shared between a $90,000 X5 and a six-figure M automotive. The result’s a gaggle of automobiles that vary from a correct M Competitors to a British off-roader, all drawing from the identical 4.4-liter nicely.

Listed here are the 5 manufacturing automobiles at the moment operating the S68.

BMW X5 M60i (G05)

That is the place the S68 began, and its existence right here nonetheless feels a bit of unusual. The X5 M60i — an M Efficiency mannequin — was the primary car on sale with a real M-division engine below the hood. The G05 X5 M60i will get probably the most conservative S68 tune within the lineup: 523 horsepower and 553 lb-ft of torque, with 0-60 arriving in 4.3 seconds.

The delicate caveat is that the S68 in M60i trim shouldn’t be making M-tier numbers. The S63 it changed within the X5 M put out 617 horsepower. Calling a 523-horsepower tune an M engine and putting in it in a automotive that wears M badging on the kidneys however shouldn’t be, in truth, an M mannequin is the type of advertising and marketing nuance BMW has gotten excellent at. That mentioned, the S68’s 48-volt mild-hybrid integration makes it noticeably smoother via the rev vary than the N63, and the torque supply from 1,800 rpm means the X5 M60i doesn’t really feel like it’s working to maintain up with visitors.

ALPINA XB7 (G07)

ALPINA took the S68 and did what ALPINA does: found out the best way to get extra out of it with out the automotive feeling like it’s attempting too laborious. Within the G07 XB7, the S68 produces 630 horsepower and 590 lb-ft of torque — 107 horsepower up from the X7 M60i that shares the identical platform, and obtainable from simply 1,800 rpm all the best way to five,600 rpm. The XB7 reaches 60 mph in 3.9 seconds, which is fast sufficient to really feel absurd given the 5,986 kilos it wants to maneuver. Prime pace is 180 mph.

What makes the XB7 attention-grabbing is what ALPINA did past the engine quantity. Their particular cooling administration and tune give the S68 a unique character than it has in BMW’s personal functions — broader and extra easy on the low finish, much less peaky increased up. That torque determine, matched with ALPINA’s Change-Tronic gearbox tuning, means the XB7 doesn’t really feel like a big SUV being pushed laborious. It seems like a big, however very clean SUV that’s the proper every day driver.

At $145,000 to start out, it is usually a big monetary dedication. The 2026 XB7 Manufaktur version, marking the tip of the mannequin’s run, opens at $181,550.

BMW 760i xDrive (G70)

The G70 7 Sequence 760i is an odd member of this group as a result of it sits on the precise reverse finish of the character spectrum from the X5 M and the XB7. That is BMW’s flagship luxurious sedan, not a efficiency car, and but it has an M-specification engine. The S68 within the 760i produces 536 horsepower and 553 lb-ft of torque — greater than the X5 M60i, lower than the ALPINA — and strikes the 760i to 60 mph in 4.1 seconds.

What BMW was really doing right here is the extra attention-grabbing story. The outgoing G12 7 Sequence had a V12 on the high. BMW dropped that engine, and relatively than provide the range-topping V8 seven in a detuned state, they reached for the M engine as an alternative. The G70 760i is, in that sense, the closest factor BMW has constructed to an M7 with out really constructing one. The S68’s clean, broad energy supply works nicely on this utility — the 760i doesn’t really feel like a monitor device, however the engine gives real effortlessness {that a} detuned N63 or a comparable AMG inline-six would battle to match.

Land Rover Defender OCTA

This one requires a second of context. Land Rover and BMW have had a parts-sharing relationship for a while — Vary Rover Sport SV was already operating the S68 earlier than the OCTA arrived — however seeing the Defender put on the identical engine that goes within the M5 nonetheless lands otherwise than studying it on a spec sheet.

The OCTA’s S68 is tuned to 626 horsepower and 553 lb-ft of torque in commonplace operating. In OCTA Mode with launch management lively, it quickly boosts to 590 lb-ft. Land Rover quotes 0-60 in 3.8 seconds for a car that weighs slightly below 6,000 kilos and rides on 33-inch tires. The S68 right here additionally runs a dry-sump lubrication system, which the M5 doesn’t, presumably as a result of a Defender will get tilted at angles that will starve a wet-sump system.

The attention-grabbing angle is that Land Rover didn’t have a aggressive V8 of its personal for this utility and BMW did. The connection is transactional, not sentimental. However the outcome — a Defender that hits 60 quicker than an F90 M5 Competitors whereas sustaining full off-road functionality — is genuinely tough to argue towards.

BMW X5 M Competitors (F95)

The F95 X5 M Competitors is the place the S68 is most at residence. When the 2024 LCI arrived, BMW changed the S63 with the S68 in its highest-output M utility, tuning it to 617 horsepower and 553 lb-ft of torque. The 0-60 time is 3.7 seconds, making the X5 M Competitors a tenth of a second faster than the Defender OCTA.

The S68 in Competitors spec is a unique engine to drive in comparison with the M60i or 760i variations. The highest-end is sharper, the transmission calibration is extra aggressive, and the facility doesn’t plateau the best way the lower-output tunes can really feel on a wide-open-throttle pull. BMW additionally gave this model a bolstered crankshaft, up to date turbocharging with an electrically managed blow-off valve, and a brand new air consumption system — not only a software program tune of the bottom S68.

The argument for the F95 M Competitors over another car on this checklist is that it’s the just one the place the S68 is doing correct M work in a correct M context. The XB7 is nearer to a grand tourer. The 760i is a limousine. The Defender OCTA is an off-road machine that occurs to dash. The X5 M Competitors is, for higher or worse, a sports activities automotive that received too giant and by no means regarded again.

The S68’s Uncommon Place

The S68 is a genuinely well-engineered piece of equipment: new crankshaft, electrical VANOS (the primary in any BMW), cross-pattern exhaust manifold, and a 48-volt hybrid motor built-in into the transmission relatively than connected to the crankshaft. However what stands out most about its brief manufacturing life thus far is the breadth of automobiles it has ended up in. BMW’s determination to construct one engine for all the things might have been a enterprise calculation. The outcome is among the extra versatile powertrain households the corporate has produced in years.