BMW S62

The S62 is BMW M’s 4.9-litre naturally aspirated V8, built from 1998 to 2003. In the
United States it powered two cars that could hardly be less alike: the E39 M5 saloon and the
Z8 roadster.

What the S62 is

A 4.9-litre V8 with individual throttle bodies, Double-VANOS variable valve timing on both
banks and a variable-length intake system. It descends from the M62 road-car V8 of the same
period, but as with every S-prefixed engine the M division rebuilt rather than tuned it: the
S62 has a different bore and stroke, different heads and a different induction system.

Our archive holds no US brochure from the years these cars were sold — our oldest M5
document is the 2006 M5 brochure, by which point the
S85 V10 had replaced it — so nothing on this page is quoted
from a factory document. What follows comes from United States certification records, and where
we have nothing, we say so rather than filling the gap from elsewhere.

Where it was fitted

Eight specification pages, all 394 hp, all 15 mpg combined. Torque,
acceleration and top speed are absent from our data for these cars: no government record
carries them, and we hold no brochure of the period to read them out of. The blanks on those
pages are honest blanks.

One engine, two completely different cars

The pairing is what makes the S62 interesting. The E39 M5 is a four-door saloon with no
exterior badging beyond a discreet M5 on the boot; the Z8 is a two-seat aluminium roadster
styled after the 507 of the 1950s, built in small numbers and sold at several times the price.
The engine in both is the same unit at the same 394 hp.

That is unusual for BMW M. Most M engines appear across a family of related cars —
the S65 in three body styles of one M3, the
S85 in the M5 and its M6 sibling. The S62 spans a practical saloon
and a limited-run halo car with nothing in common but the drivetrain.

What we do not publish

No reliability rating. The NHTSA complaint database records faults against a
vehicle, not an engine, and any figure headed “complaints about the S62” was produced
by dividing a car’s complaints among its engines on an assumption. We also publish no torque
or acceleration figures here, for the simpler reason that we do not have any we can trace to a
source.

Common questions

How much horsepower does the S62 have?

394 hp in both United States applications, the E39 M5 and the Z8, for every model year
2000 through 2003. European versions were rated slightly differently under a different
measurement standard.

Which BMWs have the S62?

The E39 M5 and the Z8. In the United States that is the complete list, and both were sold
over the same four model years.

Is the S62 the same engine as the M62?

No, though they are related. The M62 is the ordinary 4.4-litre V8 of the period, fitted to
the 540i and the X5 4.4i. The S62 is the M division’s reworking of it: larger, with individual
throttle bodies and Double-VANOS, and not interchangeable.

What replaced the S62?

The S85 V10 in the E60 M5 of 2006. The Z8 had no successor.

Sources

Outputs, fuel economy and model years from EPA certification and fuel economy data, with
the source named on every specification page. No brochure from this
period is held in the archive; if you have one, the submission
page explains what to send.