The

BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...

M88 is a

straight-6 A 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 balanc ...

DOHC An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine in which the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combus ...

petrol engine A petrol engine (gasoline engine in American and Canadian English) is an internal combustion engine designed to run on petrol (gasoline). Petrol engines can often be adapted to also run on fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas and ethanol blends ...

which was produced from 1978 to 1989. It is based on the DOHC version of the BMW M49 engine, which was used in the BMW 3.0CSi racing cars. The M88 was produced alongside the BMW M30 engine, as the higher performance engine. In North America up until 1989, the BMW S38 engine was used instead of the M88. In 1989, an updated version of the S38 became the worldwide replacement for the M88. The M30B35LE is a

SOHC An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine in which the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combus ...

engine which is based on the M88/1; this is sometimes referred to as the M90.

Design

BMW engineers used a

valvetrain on a production engine for the first time on the M88, with the camshafts driven by a single-row timing chain.

Kugelfischer Kugelfischer injection (also called ''System Kugelfischer'') is the name for a mechanical fuel injection (MFI) pump. It was produced by FAG Kugelfischer and later by Robert Bosch GmbH Derived from diesel pumps from the early 1960s, the Kugelfisc ...

fuel injection was used with individual

throttle A throttle is a mechanism by which fluid flow is managed by construction or obstruction. An engine's power can be increased or decreased by the restriction of inlet gases (by the use of a throttle), but usually decreased. The term ''throttle'' ha ...

valves and the distinctive six individual throttle bodies. The construction is an aluminium cylinder head and a cast iron

block Block or blocked may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Block programming, the result of a programming strategy in broadcasting * W242BX, a radio station licensed to Greenville, South Carolina, United States known as ''96.3 ...

. The bore is and the

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

is , resulting in a

displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and physics *Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

of .

Versions

M88

The M88 was the original iteration of the engine and was fitted to the

BMW M1 The BMW M1 (model code E26) is a Mid-engine design, mid-engined sports car produced by German automotive manufacturer BMW from 1978 until 1981. In the late 1970s, Italian automobile manufacturer Lamborghini entered into an agreement with BMW to ...

. It produces at 6,500 rpm and at 5,500 rpm. A

dry sump A dry sump system is a method to manage the lubricating motor oil in Four-stroke engine, four-stroke and large Two-stroke engine, two-stroke Reciprocating engine, reciprocating internal combustion engines. The dry sump system uses two or more o ...

is used. Applications: * 1978-1981 M1

M88/1

For the BMW M1 Procar single-make series, the M88 engine was bored out marginally to reach . This racing version, called the M88/1, met the

Group 4 Group 4 may refer to: *Group 4 element Group 4 is the second group of transition metals in the periodic table. It contains only the four elements titanium (Ti), zirconium (Zr), hafnium (Hf), and rutherfordium (Rf). The group is also called the t ...

regulations. This race engine produced in Procar specifications. This version had forged pistons, sharper camshafts, bigger valves, as well as oil cooling for the transmission and rear differential. Applications: * 1979-1980 Procar BMW M1

M88/2

For Group 5 racing, the M88 engine was turbocharged and became known as the M88/2. It was downsleeved and had a shorter stroke to displace , which with the 1.4 turbo factor placed it in the 4.5-liter class. This race engine produced up to . Applications: *

Group 5 Group 5 may refer to: * Group 5 element, chemical element classification * Group 5 (motorsport), FIA classification for cars in auto racing See also * G5 (disambiguation) {{Disambig ...

racing cars ( BMW M1 Group 5 page)

M88/3

The M88/1 engine was modified for use in the E24 M635CSi and E28 M5 and was known as the M88/3. The

fuel injection Fuel injection is the introduction of fuel in an internal combustion engine, most commonly automotive engines, by the means of a fuel injector. This article focuses on fuel injection in reciprocating piston and Wankel rotary engines. All c ...

was replaced with Bosch Motronic producing at 6,500 rpm and at 4,500 rpm. It has a

compression ratio The compression ratio is the ratio between the maximum and minimum volume during the compression stage of the power cycle in a piston or Wankel engine. A fundamental specification for such engines, it can be measured in two different ways. Th ...

of 10.5:1. The M88/3 was also fitted to the South African BMW 745i, due to packaging problems with the turbocharged M102 engine which was used in other markets. Applications: * 1983-1989 E24 M635CSi * 1984-1987 E28 M5 * 1984-1987 E23 745i (South Africa only)

M30B35LE

The M30B35LE is a lower performance, two-valve,

version of the M88/1 engine, also known as the M90. It utilizes the same block as the M88 and maintains the same bore and stroke, but borrows its head from the BMW M30 engine family. Depending on year, this engine uses either Bosch Motronic or Bosch L-Jetronic as its engine management system. Typically identified by a white L painted on the block behind the oil filter housing and coolant water passages on the side of the block. As sold in Europe and most other markets (except North America), this engine used a compression ratio of 9.3:1, did not have a

catalytic converter A catalytic converter part is an vehicle emissions control, exhaust emission control device which converts toxic gases and pollutants in exhaust gas from an internal combustion engine into less-toxic pollutants by catalysis, catalyzing a redox ...

, and produced . Applications: * 1979-1981 E12 M535i * 1978-1982 E24 635CSi * 1978-1982 E23 735i

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bmw M88 M88 World Sportscar Championship engines Straight-six engines Gasoline engines by model