Whoops!!
I was referring to engine characteristics of the smooth, high revving, awesome sounding engine. (Not that it wont sound awesome.)
With turbos, my opinion is that it will be drastically different (think e60 to f10 m5).
Every time i hear deviation because of a v8 I think really? Have you driven both e46/e90 because they are very similar - i think the 2 extra cylinders were needed to give an already outstanding engine just some more oomph while retaining its characteristics. They are very very close.
Every time i hear / read someone say oh back to i6 like e46 i think really? Turbo engines are vastly different than na engines regardless of cylinder configs.
This is why im asking. No doubt the new engine is going to be a BEAST but hoping it will retain some of the characteristics of all the m3s from the past but who am i kidding, its just going to be in your face power everywhere like all bmw turbos (impulse charging tech, hoping it will be that good to minimize lag).
Regarding muscle car v8 - this new engine will be more muscle car than the v8.