BMW OHV V8 engine
| BMW OHV V8 engine | |
|---|---|
BMW OHV V8 installed in a BMW 503
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| Overview | |
| Manufacturer | BMW |
| Production | 1954–1965 |
| Combustion chamber | |
| Configuration | OHV V8, 16 valves |
| Displacement | 2.6 L: 2,580 cc (157 cu in) 3.2 L: 3,168 cc (193.3 cu in) |
| Cylinder bore | 2.6 L: 74 mm (2.9 in) 3.2 L: 82 mm (3.2 in) |
| Piston stroke | 75 mm (3.0 in) |
| Cylinder block alloy | aluminium alloy with cast iron cylinder liners |
| Cylinder head alloy | aluminium alloy |
| Valvetrain | OHV |
| Combustion | |
| Fuel type | petrol |
| Cooling system | liquid cooled |
| Chronology | |
| Predecessor | BMW M335 |
| Successor | size: BMW M30 configuration: BMW M60 |
The BMW OHV V8 engine was the first V8 engine made by BMW. This engine is usually named by the fact that it was the only pushrod-driven overhead valve V8 ever produced by BMW. All subsequent BMW V8 engines would use double overhead camshafts and fuel injection, but the development of the next V8 engine by BMW would not take place for more than three and a half decades.
The BMW 501 was the first car made by BMW after World War II. Upon its introduction in 1951, it was the largest and heaviest car BMW had made. It was powered by a straight-6 engine based on a pre-war design, and though power was increased to 65 horsepower (48 kW), it was a sluggish performer. Their primary competitor, Mercedes-Benz, fielded the W187 in the same class but with superior performance.
Alfred Böning, BMW's chief engineer at the time, realized that the 501's engine would not be powerful enough. He got permission to design a new, larger engine for the 501, and began the design and development of the V8 engine. The design was finalized by Fritz Fiedler when he returned to BMW in 1952.
In order to reassert their status as the producer of sporty sedans, BMW debuted a version of the 501 sedan with a V8 engine. This was called the BMW 502. This V8 engine was available in 2.6 L (157 in3) and 3.2 L (193 in3) form.
The engine was an aluminum alloy, longitudinally-mounted 90° V8 with cast iron wet liners and stiffening webs between the cylinders. Apart from the materials, the engine was similar in overall design to Cadillac and Oldsmobile V-8 designs from the late 1940s, with a central camshaft using pushrods to operating overhead valves in crossflow cylinder heads with wedge-shaped combustion chambers. The original version had a 74.0 millimetres (2.91 in) bore and a 75.0 millimetres (2.95 in) stroke, giving a displacement of 2,580 cubic centimetres (157 cu in) and a power output of 100 horsepower (75 kW; 100 PS) with a two barrel Solex 30 PAAJ carburettor and a compression ratio of 7.0:1.
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Wikipedia