Article Abstract
- BMW solely constructed round 450 M1 street vehicles, however the engine inside them ended up in 4 totally different manufacturing fashions
- The E28 M5 used the identical M88/3 because the M635CSi — hand-assembled in Garching, and extensively thought-about the quickest manufacturing sedan on the planet at launch
- Essentially the most obscure M88 utility wasn’t an M automotive in any respect: a South African 7 Collection that a lot of the world by no means knew existed
BMW constructed the M1 for one motive: to go racing. The rules required a road-going model, so BMW constructed one — a mid-engine supercar developed with Lamborghini, clothed in a physique by Giugiaro, and powered by a twin-cam inline-six that had no enterprise being in something apart from a race automotive. Round 450 street vehicles had been made between 1978 and 1981. Then manufacturing stopped, and that was that.
Besides the engine didn’t disappear with it.
Meet The Coronary heart of A Supercar
That engine — the M88 — was a 3,453cc straight-six with particular person throttle our bodies, a 9.0:1 compression ratio, and a personality that rewarded anybody keen to push it previous 5,000 rpm. In street trim it made 277 horsepower. In full race spec, it made significantly extra — the turbocharged Group 5 model was mentioned to supply north of 800 hp. BMW’s M division knew they’d one thing particular on their arms, they usually weren’t about to let it collect mud on a shelf.
Over the next decade, the M88 and its carefully associated successor variant, the M88/3, discovered their method into 4 very totally different manufacturing BMWs. Three of them are well-known. One most individuals have by no means heard of.
BMW M1 (E26, 1978–1981)
The M1 is the place the M88 story begins. BMW had designed it as a Group 4 and Group 5 homologation automotive — to race it, they needed to promote it — and the M88/1 was constructed to be a road-legal model of a contest engine. It revved to six,500 rpm, used a Kugelfischer mechanical gasoline injection system, and made the type of energy in 1978 that almost all sports activities vehicles couldn’t contact. The M1 would run to 100 km/h in round 5.5 seconds and on to a prime pace of 260 km/h.
Manufacturing was troubled — Lamborghini was purported to assemble the our bodies however bumped into monetary difficulties, and the entire program was delayed — however the completed automotive was well worth the wait. In the present day, M1s repeatedly command nicely over $200,000 at public sale, and the engine that powered them is a big a part of why.
BMW M635CSi (E24, 1983–1989)
After the M1, the up to date M88/3 — now producing 286 hp — went into the 6 Collection coupe. On paper, the M635CSi didn’t look dramatically totally different from a normal 635CSi. In follow, it was a special machine: wider tracks, stiffer suspension, and that straight-six pulling onerous all the way in which to the redline. BMW described it as a grand tourer, which was correct, however undersold how entertaining it was to drive rapidly.
It was additionally the automotive that introduced the M88 to North America, although not in its authentic kind. US-market vehicles wore the M6 badge and used the S38 — a carefully associated engine that met American emissions rules. The M635CSi with the right M88/3 remained a European affair, and it’s the higher automotive for it.
BMW M5 (E28, 1984–1988)
That is the one which made the M88 well-known. BMW took the 286 hp M88/3, bolted it right into a standard-looking 5 Collection sedan, handed it to a small crew in Garching to assemble by hand, and produced what was, at its 1985 launch, extensively considered the quickest manufacturing sedan on the planet.
The E28 M5 is a automotive that rewards a re-evaluation. From the surface, it’s virtually indistinguishable from an everyday 528i — barely wider, delicate badges, that’s about it. Then you definitely drive it. The M88/3 pulls cleanly from low revs and turns into one thing else fully when you’re previous 4,000 rpm, with a soundtrack that no fashionable M automotive has fairly managed to duplicate.
Solely round 2,200 had been in-built complete, cut up between European and North American specs (the latter utilizing the S38). Values have climbed sharply in recent times, they usually present no signal of coming again down.
BMW 745i SA (E23, South Africa Solely, mid-Nineteen Eighties)
Most BMW fans know the primary three. This one catches individuals off guard.
The E23 7 Collection 745i was bought globally as a turbocharged automotive — a 3.2-liter M102 engine with pressured induction, producing round 252 hp. It was the range-topping 7 Collection, BMW’s reply to the Mercedes 450SEL 6.9, and the turbo setup gave it the efficiency anticipated of a flagship. In most international locations, that’s the one 745i that existed.
In South Africa, BMW went a special route. Moderately than certify and help the turbocharged M102 for the native market, they fitted the naturally aspirated M88/3 as an alternative. South African consumers bought a 745i SA with the identical engine because the M635CSi — a professional M-spec straight-six in a full-size luxurious sedan. It was by no means marketed as an M automotive, by no means badged as something particular, and in the present day it’s probably the most obscure M88 functions in existence. Discovering a clear one is sort of not possible.
What the M88 Left Behind
The M88 household was retired because the S38 took over — an evolution of the identical structure that went on to energy the E34 M5 and later variants of the E28. However the M88 itself spans a exceptional vary: a purpose-built supercar, a long-distance grand tourer, a factory-sleeper sedan, and a South African flagship that a lot of the world by no means knew about.
BMW M has made quicker engines since. It has not made many who felt fairly so intentionally constructed.
