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BMW V16: the 1987 marvel that was 'too much for the streets'. Learn more about this unique engine that almost changed the industry
Exciting and absurd at the same time. So impressive and unnecessary. This was the project that BMW embarked on at the end of the eighties to begin the project of a V16.
An adventure in which, however unexpected it may seem, in today's times where electric vehicles predominate, Bugatti has also just embarked on.
The BMW V16 that almost no one knows about
It would be Christmas Eve 1987, almost 37 years ago, when Adolf Fischer first fired up this sixteen-cylinder engine on a test bench. Fischer was an engineer and driver for BMW. At that time, he became the leader, and sole member, of an apocryphal, albeit de facto, department to which the brand delegated some of its craziest projects.
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Fischer thus fulfilled his promise. When his boss, Dr. Karlheinz Lange, asked him in July of that same year to undertake this project, he promised that he would find “the engine under his Christmas tree”. And so it was, the engine would be ready in less than six months. What we can say today is that this fir tree had to be really big to accommodate this engine under its branches, which required very radical transformations so that the E32 that mounted it was minimally functional.
BMW proposed a very radical idea, creating a V16 engine and installing it in its luxury saloon, which required significant transformations to make room for this engine under the hood of the E32.
The Secret Seven, an E32 with 16 cylinders
For a long time it was believed that it was a myth, or a simple occurrence that never materialized, but the Secret Seven existed and, due to its characteristic exterior paint finish, it became known as Goldfisch, in German literally golden fish, which is also like refer to in other languages, including English, when talking about goldfish. The Secret Seven still exists. And it's a second-generation, long-wheelbase 7 Series that not only stands out for its exterior finish, but also for the huge gills that protrude from its rear fins.
BMW would create one of the most spectacular sports saloons ever seen, whose heart would be a V16 engine. That's right. A sixteen-cylinder V-shaped engine, which could not even be accommodated, naturally, in the BMW 7 Series E32 for which it was designed, to create a “767 iL” Series that we have already talked about on some occasion.
When Fischer, responsible for the engine, and Hanns-Peter Weisbarth, responsible for the project, fitted the sixteen-cylinder engine into the E32, they discovered, certainly as they had imagined before, that the block they had designed took up all the available space under the hood. And they wouldn't even have space to install a conventional radiator. So, they decided to transfer it to the trunk.
The huge V16 engine took up all the available space in the engine compartment, which required moving the radiator to the trunk.
Two V12 engines to make a V16
But let's go back to the history of this engine. How would you design a sixteen-cylinder engine from scratch? Joining two eight-cylinder engines in a row forming an angle? Two V-shaped eight-cylinder engines, one after the other? Fischer chose to use two M70 V12 engines, like those already used in this BMW 7 Series.
It is said that BMW decided, at the end of the development of the E32, to widen this luxury saloon a little more, to improve its stability, but mainly to make room for a twelve-cylinder engine with which they hoped to surpass Mercedes-Benz. And so they did. What they had not yet imagined at that time was that the BMW workshops would one day run a 7 Series with a V16 engine.
Fischer would unite a chopped four-cylinder V12 with a V12 to form this new V16, which was 30 centimeters longer than the original V12. Which can now lead us to understand why it could not be naturally accommodated in the compartment.
The V16 engine created by BMW came from two V12 engines.
A powerful and very loud engine
The 4.988 cubic centimeters of the V12 would increase to 6.651 cubic centimeters. Power would increase from 300 HP at 5.200 rpm to 408 HP at 5.200 rpm. And maximum torque from 450 Nm at 4.100 rpm to 625 Nm at 3.900 rpm. Its mass would also increase by 60 kilograms. This BMW 7 Series had to carry a 310 kilogram engine.
As a transmission, BMW chose a six-speed manual gearbox instead of a four-speed ZF automatic gearbox. There were no special reasons to combine this engine with a manual gearbox, other than it being the gearbox they had available at that time, which speeded up the entire process, and would allow Fischer to better explore the characteristics of this engine.
Fischer would confess years later, as published by BMW Car in 2009, that he had the opportunity to test this 7 Series V16 on the Austrian Norisring circuit, where what impressed him most was its sound from 4.500 rpm. Especially in a first iteration of its development in which it did not yet have a complete exhaust.
As there was no space for the radiator under the hood, they chose to move it to the trunk, and install two characteristic gills on the rear fins.
You will recognize him by his gills
As impressive as the sixteen-cylinder engine was, the work that had to be done on the E32 to fit it under the hood and make it functional. We already told you how BMW had no choice but to move the radiator from the front, where there was no room for it due to its 30 centimeters of extra length over the V12, to the trunk, using two smaller radiators that took in fresh air for two huge fiberglass gills protruding from the rear fins.
This modification required saying goodbye to the trunk. Also use smaller rear lights that did not have anti-fog lighting or reverse gear. A grille would also be installed, side by side, through which the electric fans would relieve hot air.
To mount the V16 engine in this car, the trunk had to be dispensed with.
Your consumption is as high as your payments
The figures of this BMW 7 Series, as you may have already imagined, were spectacular for the time. It accelerated from 0 to 100 km/h in 6,0 seconds and reached a top speed of 281 km/h, much higher than the 250 km/h to which it would have been limited if it had reached production.
But their consumption is said to be hellish. In the city it could consume 16,8 liters/100 kilometers, moderate consumption for what it would do at cruising speed on the Autobahn at 190 km/h, where it could reach up to 20 liters/100 kilometers.
In more reasonable cruises, at 120 km/h, it could consume around 11,8 liters/100 kilometers. Fischer and Weisbarth would recognize much later that that V16 was ready to be produced and marketed. And that at some point BMW considered doing so. Some sources (Auto Motor Und Sport) point to a theory that is not entirely convincing to me, that BMW would have ruled out producing it to avoid an increase in power with Mercedes-Benz. The only thing we know is that, unfortunately, the final decision to produce it would never be made. And the BMW 7 Series E32 V16 would look like a prototype that BMW still keeps in its collection of classics.
Almost four decades later, Bugatti embarked on a project to bring a monstrous V16 to the streets, that is, for a hypercar that will only be achievable for very few budgets.
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