The
BMW, is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company. Founded in 1916, it is known for its performance and luxury vehicles. It owns and produces the MINI brand, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.-Company history:...
M88/3 is an
in line 6 cylinder (I6)The straight-six engine or inline-six engine is a six cylinder internal combustion engine with all six cylinders mounted in a straight line along the crankcase. The single bank of cylinders may be oriented in either a vertical or an inclined plane with all the pistons driving a common crankshaft...
piston engine. It was based on the M88/1 that was used in the BMW M1's street version, with double overhead cam and four valves per cylinder. The M88/1 was in turn based on the M49 engine which was used in the BMW
3.0CSiThe BMW New Six CS is the two-door sport coupé in BMW's New Six line, produced from 1968 to 1975 alongside the four-door BMW E3 sedan....
. The M88/3 was used in the early BMW M635CSi/"M6" and
BMW M5The BMW M5 is a high performance version of the BMW 5-Series automobile made by the M racing division of BMW. First introduced at the Amsterdam Motor Show in 1984, the first incarnation of the M5 was hand-built utilising the 535i chassis and a modified BMW M1 engine, being the fastest production...
(
E28The BMW E28 BMW 5-Series was made between 1981 and 1988. It replaced the BMW E12 in 1981 and was replaced by the BMW E34 in 1989.E28 Production started in July 1981 and ended in December 1987...
) and produced 286 PS (210 kW/282 hp).
BMW engineers used a 4-valve head and a single-row chain.
The
BMW, is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company. Founded in 1916, it is known for its performance and luxury vehicles. It owns and produces the MINI brand, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.-Company history:...
M88/3 is an
in line 6 cylinder (I6)The straight-six engine or inline-six engine is a six cylinder internal combustion engine with all six cylinders mounted in a straight line along the crankcase. The single bank of cylinders may be oriented in either a vertical or an inclined plane with all the pistons driving a common crankshaft...
piston engine. It was based on the M88/1 that was used in the BMW M1's street version, with double overhead cam and four valves per cylinder. The M88/1 was in turn based on the M49 engine which was used in the BMW
3.0CSiThe BMW New Six CS is the two-door sport coupé in BMW's New Six line, produced from 1968 to 1975 alongside the four-door BMW E3 sedan....
. The M88/3 was used in the early BMW M635CSi/"M6" and
BMW M5The BMW M5 is a high performance version of the BMW 5-Series automobile made by the M racing division of BMW. First introduced at the Amsterdam Motor Show in 1984, the first incarnation of the M5 was hand-built utilising the 535i chassis and a modified BMW M1 engine, being the fastest production...
(
E28The BMW E28 BMW 5-Series was made between 1981 and 1988. It replaced the BMW E12 in 1981 and was replaced by the BMW E34 in 1989.E28 Production started in July 1981 and ended in December 1987...
) and produced 286 PS (210 kW/282 hp).
BMW engineers used a 4-valve head and a single-row chain. The cylinder head was made in two parts. The lower part formed the combustion chambers and water jackets, and the upper half contained the camshaft bearings and the bores for the tappets.
Kugelfischer fuel injection was used with individual throttle valves and the distinctive six inlet pipes. The M88 produced 277 bhp in the version built from 1978 to 1981 for the BMW M1.
For the Procar M1's, the M88 was tuned to 470 to 490 bhp. The resulting M88/1 engine had new camshafts, bigger valves, reshaped ports, forged pistons, use of throttle slides (instead of butterfly valves), and improved exhaust.
For Group 5 racing, the engine was pushed to between 850 and 900 bhp by the addition of two turbochargers. This was the M88/2 powerplant.
From 1985 to 1987 the M88 was used in the European-market 5 Series M5 (E28) and from 1983 to 1989 in the 6 Series M635CSi Coupe (E24). The engine was designated M88/3 and produced 286 bhp.
S38
The
S38 was an updated M88/3 and produced in three versions :
S38 B35 - US-spec
BMW M5 (E28)The first BMW M5, based on the E28 5 Series, made its debut at Amsterdam Motor Show in February 1985. It was the product of demand for an automobile with the carrying capacity of a saloon , but the overall performance of a sports car. It utilized the 535i chassis and an evolution of the engine from...
and E24
BMW M6The BMW M6 is a high-performance version of the 6-Series automobile, designed by the motorsport division of the German manufacturer.-E24 M635CSi/"M6":...
and late-production catalyst-equipped European market M635CSi (260 DIN HP).
S38 B36 - all US-spec and '89-'92 European-spec
BMW M5 (E34)The E34 M5 is a continuation of BMW's M5 series of sports sedans, based on the 5-series. It was produced from 1988 to 1995, although sales in North America started in 1990 and ended in 1993. It was produced at BMW M GmbH in Garching, Germany and like the previous M5, was entirely hand-built. It...
S38 B38 - '92-'96 European-spec
BMW M5 (E34)The E34 M5 is a continuation of BMW's M5 series of sports sedans, based on the 5-series. It was produced from 1988 to 1995, although sales in North America started in 1990 and ended in 1993. It was produced at BMW M GmbH in Garching, Germany and like the previous M5, was entirely hand-built. It...
The S38 B35 was a revision of M88/3 with dual-row timing chain, reduced compression, catalyst-equipped and fitted with cast iron manifolds rather than equal length "bundle of snakes" headers.
For the S38 B36 displacement was enlarged from 3453 to 3535 cc. Thanks to the use of a
BoschRobert Bosch GmbH is a German diversified technology-based corporation which was started in 1886 by Robert Bosch in Stuttgart, Germany.Robert Bosch GmbH is the world's largest supplier of automobile components and has business relationships with virtually every automobile company in the world. The...
Motronic 1.2 engine management, power grew to 315 PS (232 kW/310 SAE hp) at 6900 rpm. a dual-stage intake plenum helped to improve flexibility over the rev range. All versions were catalyst-equipped.
In 1992, with the introduction of Euro I emission legislation, BMW opted to enlarge the engine once more, to 3795 cc, with power climbing to 340 PS (250 kW/335 SAE hp) and
torqueTorque, also called moment or moment of force , is the tendency of a force to rotate an object about an axis, fulcrum, or pivot. Just as a force is a push or a pull, a torque can be thought of as a twist....
going up to 400 Nm (295 ft·lbf). Coil-on-plug ignition replaced the traditional distributor from the B35 & B36. The B38 engine also received a Motronic 1.3 engine management. This engine was used in the M5 until the E34 finished production in 1996.