E36 M3 + S52 + Rotrex C38-92 = 527 wheel horsepower

The E36 M3 in the USA came with the S50B30US and S52B32US motors. The US S50/S52 was not exactly as special as its European S50 counterpart as it lacked the individual throttle bodies. The US version was really more of a tweaked M50TU engine sharing its cylinder heads but with different cam profiles and tuning resulting in 240 horsepower in 3.2 liter trim.

Now the S50B32 engine in Europe produced 321 horsepower which certainly is impressive considering its 1995 debut and its 3.2 liter displacement. The S54 in the 2001 E46 M3 in its European trim (catless headers) produced 343 horsepower. This goes to show just how advanced the S50 was for its time.

Despite the S52 not having individual throttle bodies for NA (naturally aspirated) performance and response it shows quite well when boosted such as in this example. An Active Autowerke S52 supercharger kit was customized by substituting in the larger Rotrex C38-92 blower from the E9X M3 Level III kits.

The result? 527 wheel horsepower. Certainly impressive and not too far off the Active Autowerke Level III kits for the E9X Me S65 4.0 liter V8 that hit ~600 wheel horsepower depending on options (meth, pulley, etc.).

A little boost goes a long way on the S52 3.2 liter inline-6.