BMW OHV V8 engine

The BMW 501, which began production in 1952, was the first car produced by BMW after World War II. It was powered by the BMW M337 straight-six engine (based on the pre-war BMW M78 engine), which produced only and struggled with the mass of the 501. The competing Mercedes-Benz W187 was powered by a larger engine, which provided superior performance. In 1954, the V8 engine was introduced (in 2.6 Litre form) in the BMW 502 - a higher specification version of the 501. In 1955, the 3.2 Litre version of the engine was introduced in the BMW 3.2, which was based on the 502. == Design ==

At the time, unique features of the BMW OHV V8 included the aluminium construction of the block and head, and a coolant passage design that increased the block stiffness over typical engines with wet cylinder liners. The layout of the engine is a 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 the Cadillac OHV V8 and Oldsmobile V8 engine of the late 1940s, with a central camshaft using pushrods to operating overhead valves in crossflow cylinder heads with wedge-shaped combustion chambers. The versions have a bore of and a stroke of . Initially, this engine used a two barrel Solex 30 PAAJ carburettor, a compression ratio of 7.0:1 and had a power output of . The extra capacity of the version was achieved by increasing the bore to . The larger engine initially used a single Zenith carburettor, a compression ratio of 7.2:1 and produced . The highest power output version of the BMW OHV V8 produced and was used in the 3200 S released in 1961. == Versions ==

The following is a summary of the engine's versions. M502/1 The original version of the engine was developed for the BMW 502 and was introduced with it in 1954. • 1954-1958 BMW 502 — • 1955-1958 BMW 501 V8 — . Applications: From 1963, the versions of the M503/160 and M506/140 with the gearbox directly mounted to the engine were called the M532 and M534 respectively. Production of V8 sedans ended in 1963, but the engine from the 3200 S was used in the 3200 CS coupé from January 1962 to September 1965. Applications: • 1961-1963 BMW 3200 L — • 1961-1963 BMW 3200 S — • 1961-1965 BMW 3200 CS — == Use by other manufacturers ==

Frazer-Nash Continental Frazer-Nash was an importer of BMW cars into the United Kingdom and had used the Bristol straight-six engine, which was based on the BMW M328. The BMW OHV V8 was fitted to the Frazer Nash Continental model. The Continental was intended to be available with either the 2.6 or 3.2-litre V8, but only a single prototype was ever made, with the 3.2 engine. It was the last car Frazer-Nash made. Talbot-Lago America The 1955 Talbot-Lago Sport was originally powered by Talbot's own 2.5 Litre four-cylinder engine. In 1957, due to reliability problems, Talbot switched over to the BMW OHV V8 and renamed the car the Talbot-Lago America. Talbot reduced the bore to to keep the engine displacement beneath 2.5 litres, a major tax threshold in France at the time. ==References==