BMW M3 E36 — Reliability

E36 1992–1996 1 engine

Reliability Summary

Engine S50/S54 — 78/100 BUY
Known Issues 2

Engine in this model

BUY 78

S50/S54

S50/S54 M3 Engines

E36 M3 (S50) and E46 M3 (S54). High-revving NA legends. S50B32 is bulletproof. S54 has rod bearing a...

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Known Issues Across All Engines

Issue Engine Severity Onset
Rod bearing wear (S54) S50/S54 critical 80,000 km – 150,000 km
VANOS bolt failure (S54 recall) S50/S54 high 60,000 km – 120,000 km