(E) Prototyp M8



  • Unfortunately, the 8-series was introduced in a difficult time for cars of its kind, so sales figures were below expectations.
    In fact the situation was so bad that the decision was made not to produce the top-of-the-line model, the M8, as there was no market for a super sportscar.
    So the 850CSi marks the upper end, but there was a prototype of ///M8 :

    "Engine in the pictures was purpose-built for the McLaren F1
    There was an engine, done by the BMW motorsport division, that was to be an improved version of the 5.6 liter production model, and this version did have 48 valves.
    However, Gordon Murray (more or less the father of the F1) told Paul Rosche that the engine was too big and heavy.
    On Gordon's trip to Munich (in October of 1990), he specified that he needed for the new F1 an engine no more than 600mm long, with a maximum weight of 250kg, making more than 550bhp, including dry-sump lubrication, and rigid enough to work as a load bearing structure. Rosche realized that such an engine could never evolve from BMW's production V12 and he simply agreed to do a new engine for Murray.

    The new product was without a flywheel and was very much a racing engine.
    So when, on your website, you say this engine "has never been seen in a car except the McLaren F1," this seems tremendously appropriate as it was in fact designed for the F1 and had no other intended purpose.
    I think the engine that would have gone into the M8 (had it been put into production) would have been a variant of the 5.7 liter Csi engine modified to run 48 valves, the very same engine Gordon Murray dismissed when Rosche presented it to him."

    Andy Fischer



























    Translation of a french magazine starring the ///M8 :

    Experimental vehicule, built at one copy, handmade by Motorsport GmbH, on the base of an 850i in order to test the V12 limits.
    This motor received 48 valves, 4 overhead camshafts.
    Paul Rosche, ingenieur, dad of the 4 cylinder 1500 turbo from formula 1, world champion in 1983, created this motor, with 550 hp.
    Body made with Kevlar elements, PVC windows, wide wings
    This photo was taken by an "image hunter" on the test track of BMW Factory, this car was immediately considered as the bavarian riposte against Ferrari

    "In fact, said Karl-Heinz Kalbfell, Motorsport GmbH PDG, we would have been proud to build some, we had enough signed blank cheques but it's now a closed business.
    This car will never be producted but it's good to know that our engineers can build such unique car with a perfect standard car finishing."

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