BMW has been producing engines for automobiles, motorcycles and aircraft since 1917, when the company began production of an inline-six aircraft engine. They have been producing automobile engines since 1933.

Motorcycle engines

Automotive petrol engines BMW is well known for its history of inline-six (straight-six) engines, a layout it continues to use to this day despite most other manufacturers switching to a V6 layout. The more common inline-four and V8 layouts are also produced by BMW, and at times the company has produced inline-three, V10 and V12 engines, BMW also engineered non-production customised engines especially for motorsports which include the M12/13 1.5-Liter straight 4 piston turbocharged engine from 1982 to 1987 for Brabham, Arrows and Benetton Formula One teams, the M12 engine engineered by BMW for Formula One held the record for the most powerful internal combustion engine of the world in the 80's and 90's. The E41/P83 3.0-Liter V10 from 2000 to 2005 for Williams F1 Team and the P86/8 2.4-Liter V8 for their own F1 team partnering with Sauber F1 from 2006 to 2009, with which the company enjoyed its first and best finish at the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix as a full works F1 manufacturer team, finishing the race with their winning driver Robert Kubica, and Nick Heidfeld in second place.

British super car manufacturer McLaren Automotive, a manufacturer of road-going sports cars based on Formula One technology, decided to work with BMW for the development of their first ever production car—the McLaren F1 in 1993 for the engineering and customization of its engine—the S70/2, which had a 6.1-Liter 60° V12 DOHC configuration. Only 106 units of the cars were produced by McLaren, the S70 engine holding the record of the fewest production engines by BMW to date.

Prototype V16 engines have been made despite not reaching production. These prototypes were the 1987 BMW Goldfisch V16 6.7 litre engine and the 2004 Rolls-Royce 100EX 9.0 litre engine. BMW has also made prototype V6 engines + Automotive petrol enginesEngine code Configuration Years Displacement Fuel system B38 Inline-three turbo 2013–present 1.2–1.5 L Direct injection M10 Inline-four N.A. 1960–1988 1.5–2.0 L Carburetor / Mechanical and electronic fuel injection S14 Inline-four N.A. 1986–1990 2.0–2.5 L M40 Inline-four N.A. 1987–1995 1.6–1.8 L Fuel injection M42 Inline-four N.A. 1989–1996 1.8 L Fuel injection M43 Inline-four N.A. 1991–2002 1.6–1.9 L Fuel injection / CNG M44 Inline-four N.A. 1996–2001 1.9 L N40 Inline-four N.A. 2001–2004 1.6 L N42 Inline-four N.A. 2001–2004 1.8–2.0 L N45 Inline-four N.A. 2004–2011 1.6-2.0 L N46 Inline-four N.A. 2004–2007 1.8–2.0 L Manifold injection N43 Inline-four N.A. 2007–2011 1.6–2.0 L Direct injection N13 Inline-four turbo 2011–2015 1.6 L Direct injection N20 Inline-four turbo 2011–2017 1.6–2.0 L Direct injection N26 Inline-four turbo 2012–2016 2.0 L Direct injection; Super Ultra-Low Emissions VehicleB46 BMW B48#B46 Inline-four turbo 2016–2017 2.0 L Direct injection; Super Ultra-Low Emissions Vehicle B48 Inline-four turbo 2015–present 1.6–2.0 L Direct injection P48 Inline-four turbo 2019–2020 2.0 L Direct injection M78 Straight-six N.A. 1933–1950 1.2-1.9 L M328 Straight-six N.A. 1936–1940 2.0-2.1 L M335 Straight-six N.A. 1939–1941 3.5 L M337 Straight-six N.A. 1952–1958 2.0-2.1 L M30 Straight-six N.A. 1968–1994 2.5-3.5 L Carburetor / Fuel injection M20 Straight-six N.A. 1977–1993 2.0-2.7 L Carburetor / Fuel injection M88/S38 Straight-six N.A. 1978–1989 3.5-3.8 L Fuel injection M102 Straight-six turbo 1980–1982 3.2 L Fuel injection M106 Straight-six turbo 1982–1986 3.4 L Fuel injection M50 Straight-six N.A. 1989–1996 2.0-2.5 L S50 Straight-six N.A. 1992–1999 3.0-3.2 L M52 Straight-six N.A. 1994–2000 2.0-2.8 L S52 Straight-six N.A. 1996–2000 3.2 L M54 Straight-six N.A. 2000–2006 2.2-3.0 L S54 Straight-six N.A. 2000–2008 3.2 L M56 Straight-six N.A. 2002–2006 2.5 L Super Ultra-Low Emissions Vehicle from 2003-2006N51 BMW N52#N51B30Straight-six N.A.2007–20133.0 LPort injection; Super Ultra-Low Emissions Vehicle N52 Straight-six N.A. 2004–2015 2.5-3.0 L Port injection N54 Straight-six turbo 2006–2016 3.0 L Direct injection N53 Straight-six N.A. 2006–2013 2.5-3.0 L Direct injection N55 Straight-six turbo 2009–present 3.0 L Direct injection S55 Straight-six turbo 2014–2021 3.0 L Direct injection B58 Straight-six turbo 2015–present 3.0 L Direct injection, dual injection since TU2 S58 Straight-six turbo 2019–present 3.0 L Direct injection OHV V8 V8 N.A. 1954–1965 2.6-3.2 L M60 V8 N.A. 1992–1996 3.0-4.0 L Fuel injection M62 V8 N.A. 1996–2005 3.5-4.8 L S62 V8 N.A. 1998–2006 4.9 L P60B40 V8 N.A. 2001–2005 4.0 L Direct injection N62 V8 N.A. 2001–2010 3.6-4.8 L S65 V8 N.A. 2007–2013 4.0-4.4 L N63 V8 turbo 2008–present 4.4 L Direct injection S63 V8 turbo 2009–present 4.4 L P66 V8 turbo 2012–present 4.0 L Direct injection S68 V8 turbo MHEV 2022–present 4.4-4.6 L E41/P80 V8 & V10 N.A. 2000–2009 2.4-3.0 L Fuel injection S85 V10 N.A. 2005–2010 5.0 L M70 V12 N.A. 1987–1996 5.0 L S70 V12 N.A. 1992–2000 5.6-6.1 L M73 V12 N.A. 1993–2002 5.4 L N73 V12 N.A. 2003–2016 6.0-6.75 L Direct injection N74 V12 turbo 2009–2022 6.0-6.75 L Direct injection

Timelines

Automotive diesel engines

+ Automotive diesel enginesEngine code Configuration Years DisplacementB37 Inline-three turbo 2012 1.5 LM41 Inline-four turbo 1994–2000 1.7 LM47 Inline-four turbo 1998–2007 2.0 LN47 Inline-four turbo 2007–2014 2.0 LB47 Inline-four turbo 2013–present 2.0 LM21 Inline-six turbo* 1983–1993 2.4 LM51 Inline-six turbo 1991–2000 2.5 LM57 Inline-six turbo 1998–2013 2.5-3.0 LN57 Inline-six turbo 2008–2020 3.0 LB57 Inline-six turbo 2015–present 3.0 LM67 V8 turbo 1998–2009 3.9-4.4 L * Also produced in a naturally aspirated configuration.

Timelines

Aircraft engines Straight-six 1917–1919 – IIIa, 19.1 L straight-six — first BMW corporate product of any kind 1919, 1925–? – IV, 23.5 L straight-six 1926–1927 - V, 22.9 L straight-six

V12 VI, 38.2 L V12 1926–1937 – VI, 45.8 L V12 VIIa supercharged V12 116 (initially XII), projected 20.7 L V12, never manufactured 117 (initially XV), projected 36.0 L V12, never manufactured

Radial X, 2.2 L 5-cylinder Xa, 2.9 L 5-cylinder 1933–? – 132, 27.7 L 9-cylinder, development of Pratt & Whitney R-1690 Hornet built under licence 1935 – 114, prototype diesel development of 132 1935 – BMW-Lanova 114 V-4, supercharged liquid-cooled diesel prototype development of 114 1939 - 139, prototype 18-cylinder double-row; two-row variant of 132 1939–1945 – 801, 41.8 L supercharged 14-cylinder double row 1942 – 802, projected 53.7 L supercharged 18-cylinder double row; 18-cylinder version of 801 803, projected 83.5 L supercharged 28-cylinder 4-row liquid-cooled; essentially two 801s coupled together 1936–1944 – Bramo 323, 26.8 L supercharged 9-cylinder, inherited when BMW bought Bramo in 1939

Jet 1944–1945 – 003 axial flow turbojet 1997–2000 – BMW Rolls-Royce BR700 family of turbofans; Rolls-Royce plc bought out the venture in 2000.

References