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 The straight-six engine (also referred to as an inline-six engine; abbreviated I6 or L6) is a piston engine with six cylinders arranged in a straight line along the crankshaft. A straight-six engine has perfect primary and secondary engine bala ...

(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 includes M12/13, 1.5-Liter straight 4 piston turbocharged engine from 1982-1987 for

Brabham Brabham () is the common name for Motor Racing Developments Ltd., a British racing car manufacturer and Formula One racing team. Founded in 1960 by Australian driver Jack Brabham and British-Australian designer Ron Tauranac, the team won fo ...

, Arrows and Benetton

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

teams, E41/P83, 3.0-Liter V10 from 2000-2005 for

Williams F1 Team Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited, currently racing in Formula One as Williams Racing, is a British Formula One motor racing team and constructor. It was founded by former team owner Frank Williams and automotive engineer Patrick Hea ...

and P86/8, 2.4-Liter V8 for their own F1 team parterning Sauber F1 from 2006-2009, with which the company enjoyed its first and best finish at

2008 Canadian Grand Prix The 2008 Canadian Grand Prix (formally the Formula 1 Grand Prix du Canada 2008) was a Formula One motor race held on 8 June 2008 at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was the 7th race of the 2008 Formula One seaso ...

as full works F1 manufacturer team finishing the race with their winning driver Robert Kubica, and 2nd place Nick Heidfeld. British super car manufacturer

McLaren Automotive McLaren Automotive (formerly known as McLaren Cars) is a British luxury automotive manufacturer based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, England. The main products of the company are supercars, which are produced in-house in designated ...

, 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 The McLaren F1 is a sports car designed and manufactured by British automobile manufacturer McLaren Cars, and powered by the BMW S70/2 V12 engine. The original concept was conceived by Gordon Murray. Murray was able to convince Ron Dennis to ...

in 1993 for engineering and customization its engine the S70 which had a 6.0-Liter 60° V12 DOHC configuration. As only 1,510 units of the cars were produced by McLaren, the S70 engine holds the record of the lowest production engines by BMW to date. Prototype V16 engines have been made, however they have not reached 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

Timelines

Automotive diesel engines

* 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 *

117 117 may refer to: *117 (number) *AD 117 *117 BC *117 (emergency telephone number) *117 (MBTA bus) * 117 (TFL bus) *117 (New Jersey bus) *''117°'', a 1998 album by Izzy Stradlin *No. 117 (SPARTAN-II soldier ID), personal name John, the Master Chief ...

(initially XV), projected 36.0 L V12, never manufactured

Radial

* X, 2.2 L 5-cylinder **Xa, 2.9 L 5-cylinder *1933–? –

132 132 may refer to: *132 (number) *AD 132 *132 BC __NOTOC__ Year 132 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Laenas and Rupilius (or, less frequently, year 622 ''Ab urbe condita'') ...

, 27.7 L 9-cylinder, development of Pratt & Whitney R-1690 Hornet built under licence **1935 –

114 114 may refer to: *114 (number) *AD 114 *114 BC *114 (1st London) Army Engineer Regiment, Royal Engineers, an English military unit *114 (Antrim Artillery) Field Squadron, Royal Engineers, a Northern Irish military unit *114 (MBTA bus) *114 (New Je ...

, prototype diesel development of 132 **1935 – BMW-Lanova 114 V-4, supercharged liquid-cooled diesel prototype development of 114 *1939 -

139 139 may refer to: * 139 (number), an integer * AD 139, a year of the Julian calendar * 139 BC, a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar * 139 (New Jersey bus) See also * 139th (disambiguation) 139th may refer to: * 139th (Northumberland) Battal ...

, 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 __NOTOC__ Year 803 ( DCCCIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Emperors Nikephoros I and Charlemagne settle their imperial boundaries i ...

, projected 83.5 L supercharged 28-cylinder 4-row liquid-cooled; essentially two 801s coupled together *1936–1944 –

Bramo 323 The Bramo 323 ''Fafnir'' is a nine-cylinder radial aircraft engine of the World War II era. Based heavily on Siemens/Bramo's earlier experience producing the Bristol Jupiter under licence, the Bramo 323 saw limited use. Design and development ...

, 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 Rolls-Royce Deutschland is a subsidiary of British aircraft engine maker Rolls-Royce plc. Its primarily facilities are located at Dahlewitz outside Berlin and Motorenfabrik Oberursel at Oberursel near Frankfurt am Main. The company was former ...

BR700 family of turbofans; Rolls-Royce plc bought out the venture in 2000.

References

{{BMW * BMW BMW