Munich. BMW is celebrating ‘50 years of Turbo Power in
motorsport’ in 2019. From the first turbo engine back in 1969 to the
latest P48 engine for the BMW M4 DTM, which already has six wins to
its name this season, there have been many steps forward. Here’s an
overview of the evolution of the BMW Turbo engine in motor racing.
1969: BMW 2002 TI – Engine: BMW M121.
As the first BMW Turbo racing engine, this four-cylinder, in-line
engine with a two-litre capacity and turbocharger was a history-making
pioneer. Dieter Quester (AUT) won the European Touring Car
Championship in a BMW 2002 TI with turbo power. With 0.98 bar of
overpressure, the first generation of turbo engine generated approx.
280 hp at 6,500 rpm. The exhaust fan was theoretically capable of
developing a boost pressure of 1.76 bar, however, the pressure in the
cylinder would have been so great, that the cylinder head would have
lifted clean off.
1976: BMW 3.0 CSL – Engine: BMW M49/4.
The BMW 3.0 CSL art car designed by Frank Stella (USA) raced at the
24 Hours of Le Mans (FRA) in 1976 with the BMW M49/4 turbo engine.
With a displacement of 3.2 litres, the boost pressure of 1.72 bar
allowed the engine to generate roughly 750 hp at 9,000 rpm. It took
the BMW Motorsport engineers a matter of weeks to assemble a test car,
which made its race debut at Silverstone (GBR). However, as with the
art car at Le Mans later, technical issues prevented a good race result.
1977: BMW 320 Group 5 – Engine: BMW M12/12.
From 1977, Schnitzer Motorsport ran the BMW M12/12 engine in the BMW
320 Group 5. Just one year later, Harald Ertl (AUT) won the German
Racing Championship with that very engine. The four-cylinder unit
generated just short of 400 hp, while a variant developed further by
Paul Rosche and his team in 1979 actually exceeded the 500-hp mark.
1979: BMW M1 Group 5 – Engine: BMW M88/2.
In 1979, an impressive 1,000 hp of power lay dormant in the BMW M88/2
engine for the BMW M1 Group 5. The mid-mounted engine could not really
unleash this power until 1981, as the homologation of the car was
delayed. By that point, the BMW M1 Procar, which was homologated in
line with Group 4 regulations, had already achieved great fame with
the M88/1 naturally aspirated engine. However, the Group 5 version
brought with it advantages over the rivals from Porsche and Ford, who
were very strong at the time. These benefits ultimately helped
Hans-Joachim Stuck (GER) to a prestigious victory at the Norisring in 1981.
1981-1987: Brabham BMW – Engine: BMW M12/13.
Based on the engine in the BMW 320 Group 5, Paul Rosche developed the
1.5-litre engine used in the Brabham BMW in Formula 1 in 1981. The
unit initially generated roughly 560 hp in races, but this performance
was increasing all the time. In 1982, Nelson Piquet (BRA) claimed the
first Formula 1 victory with BMW Turbo Power. One year later, he was
crowned world champion in the Brabham BMW BT52. By this point, its
engine was generating 640 hp in race mode, with 2.9 bar of boost
pressure. Its successor – the BMW M12/13/1 – was capable of up to
1,400 hp in qualifying mode, making it the most powerful Formula 1
engine ever. As a customer engine, it was also used by other teams,
including ATS, Arrows and Benetton. Current ITR boss, Gerhard Berger,
took his maiden Formula 1 victory with this engine in 1986.
2011-2012: MINI WRC and BMW 320TC WTCC – Engines: P14 and P13.
After the Formula 1 era, it took until 2011 for BMW Motorsport to run
another turbo engine: the P14, based on the production engine in the
Mini Cooper S, in the Mini Countryman World Rally Car, and P13 in the
BMW 320TC for the FIA World Touring Car Championship (FIA WTCC). The
power was increased dramatically, to 320 hp from a displacement of
just 1.6 litres. The cylinder block and cylinder head were largely
unmodified, showing just how robust the production engine was.
2016: BMW M6 GT3 – Engine: BMW P63.
In 2016, the BMW M6 GT3 was the next race car to compete with turbo
power. The P63 engine was based on the S63 production version and was
slightly modified to meet the demands of motorsport. Thanks to M
TwinPower Turbo technology, the V8 engine with a displacement of 4.4
litres generated up to 585 hp, depending on the classification. The
BMW M6 GT3 is still enjoying success with the P63 engine to this day.
Among other successes, this combination has won the 24 Hours of
Spa-Francorchamps (BEL) twice and the FIA GT World Cup in Macau (CHN).
2018: BMW M8 GTE – Engine: BMW P63/1.
In preparation for entering the FIA World Endurance Championship and
the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with the BMW M8 GTE, the
familiar engine from the BMW M6 GT3 was reduced from a displacement of
4.4 to 4 litres to comply with GTE regulations. The P63/1 engine
consists of almost 2,300 components – 985 of which are unique. 181
parts originate from production projects, while over 700 were
developed from scratch especially for the P63/1 or transferred to this
project from other BMW Motorsport racing engines. Depending on the
classification, it generates between 500 and 600 hp and was, at the
time, the most efficient engine that BMW Motorsport had ever
developed. Its greatest success to date came in the form of a GTLM
class win at the 24 Hours of Daytona (USA) in 2019.
2019: BMW M4 DTM – Engine: BMW P48.
On the 50th anniversary of the BMW Turbo engine, turbo
power returned to the DTM in 2019. Like the 1969 engine, the BMW P48
is a two-litre, four-cylinder turbo engine, which is now capable of
developing more than 600 hp with boost pressures of up to 2.5 bar. As
the regulations specify a maximum amount of fuel, the detailed
development work focussed primarily on efficiency. In this regard, it
not only surpasses the P63/1, but also most modern production engines.
At 85 kilograms, it weighs only half as much as its DTM predecessor.
The lightweight unit boasts impressive figures compared to the DTM
engines used previously: half the displacement, more power, less
consumption. The P48 engine won on its race debut at the 2019
season-opener at Hockenheim (GER).