Bye Bye 5.5. Mercedes-Benz has announced that the short lived M157 5.5 Liter Bi-Turbo V8 Engine that they’ve been using in AMG vehicles such as the S63 will no longer be produced after this year. The 5.5 liter V8 was introduced in 2011 but with new emission standards in Europe and high power output from the new 4.0 liter BiTurbo V8 (used in the new AMG GT) they’ll be updating the rest of the AMG line up that relies on the M157. Those cars include the S63, CL63, CLS63 and E63 AMG.

The new 4.0 will be hand crafted in AMG’s Affalterbach factory and the engines should be putting out over 410 horsepower, redlining at 7,000rpm. The new motor has 500mL cylinders, which is an industry wide trend as well a great compromise between emissions, performance, and cooling. The smaller motor also helps with packaging, lowering the overall curb weight of the car, as well as positioning it closer to the middle of the chassis. So while we do mourn the demise of the big block, we are thankful that technological progress has offset any worry about performance motoring.

Source: Autocar