[DBO]

With less and less demand for V8's , I wonder if there's anything in the roadmap to bring the S58 engine to the 5 series. .. perhaps a genuine M540i to make up for the lack of M-Lite in some markets (e.g. no M550 in RHD guise).

The Supra boys are hungry to get their hands on the same kit, but M division poured cold water over it for now. Going to make things interesting in the tuning circles as well. The S58 apparently only shares 10% of its parts with the B58, so there will undoubtedly be folks willing to cobble bits together.

Has anyone seen or heard any other interesting rumours?

[AP]

Well that depends upon whether the 550 comes to a RHD market I guess. Auto express magazine reported a while back that the 550 would be coming to the UK although nothing official or unofficial has been seen since that.
So if that does happen that may stop any significant engine changes to the 540 I guess.

[mobilejo]

Originally Posted by DBO

With less and less demand for V8's , I wonder if there's anything in the roadmap to bring the S58 engine to the 5 series. .. perhaps a genuine M540i to make up for the lack of M-Lite in some markets (e.g. no M550 in RHD guise).

There won't be an M540i - We already know there is only 1 M lite in each range and BMW have already created an M550i, they just believe there is no demand for anything between the 540 and M5 in some markets. Why invest in creating another model to sit between the 540 and M5, only for markets that have no demand for it?

If the S58 is an M engine, then we won't see it in the G30 unless it replaces the engine in the M5, which is highly unlikely.