For decades, American-made enginesearned their reputations the hard way. They survived heat, cold, heavy loads, missed maintenance, and real-world abuse because they were designed with margin in mind.

These engines come from very special cars.

BMW reveals that it recorded engine sounds from three iconic M cars to give the electric M3 character and a sense of connection. The cars sampled were the E63 M6, F82 M4 and the E90 M3. The prototype ...