BMW has revealed a prototype V16 engine that was developed and tested in the 7 Series. The engine made its public debut at the Techno-Classica classic-car show in Germany after being hidden for 34 years.
If we're talking about production cars, the 16-cylinder club is a small one. Cadillac sold the V-16 between 1930 and 1940, Cizeta began production of the V16T in 1993 and built around 13 units, and all of Bugatti's 21st-century cars have used a W16. The brand has a new V16 engine on the way, too. BMW could have joined this list: it spent years developing V16s that it tested in two generations of the 7 Series .
The most fascinating part of this long-wheelbase sedan is under the hood. It's powered by a 6,646-cubic-centimeter V16 tuned to develop 348 horsepower at 5,000 rpm. The engine is mounted longitudinally, it spins the rear wheels via a five-speed automatic transmission, and it sends the 750iL to a top speed of 155 mph. These numbers might not sound impressive in an era when Mercedes-AMG wrings 416 horsepower from a 2.
That's not to say the 1990 prototype looked like a regular-production 7 Series. It was built four years before the E38 entered production, and it stood out from the standard model in several key ways. Up front, it wore sealed-beam headlights with bright bezels that gave it an old-school look. It used older-style exterior door handles, and its c-pillar was more upright.
BMW V16 Engine Prototype 7 Series Techno-Classica
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