BMW South Africa Secretly Built The BMW M7 Germany Never Would

The turbocharged M102/M106 engine used in the European 745i wouldn't have worked in a right-hand-drive application because the turbo was mounted on the right side of the engine bay where the steering column was positioned. Instead, they installed the 3.5-liter naturally aspirated M88 inline-six into the car. Dr. Walter Hasselkus, Managing Director of BMW SA at the time, says this was done without permission from BMW headquarters in Munich.

To cram the M88 under the hood, BMW SA had to install the engine at an angle, change the sump, and move the injectors. This M1-derived unit produced 282 horsepower and 251 lb-ft of torque compared to the 248 hp and 280 lb-ft of torque produced by the later M106 turbocharged engine.

BMW SA only produced 255 units of the 745i, making it an extremely rare collectible by today's standards.

The car's story is enhanced further by its racing pedigree. The car was driven by race car driver Tony Viana in the 1985 Group One Championship, where it raced against other production-derived cars like the Alfa Romeo GTV, Ford Sierra XR8, and Mazda RX-7. The idea was torace on Sunday to sell cars on Monday. Still to this day, the 745i SA is the only 7 Series to ever go racing with factory backing. It may not be a true M7, but it's pretty close.

Sadly, political issues made it difficult to keep building the car at the Rosslyn plant, but BMW worked closely with local activists to help keep 2,000 jobs in the country. BMW went on to have a major presence in South Africa to this day, with Plant Rosslyn producing the 3 Series for decades until it was replaced by the X3 recently.

As for the racing 745i in the video, it was restored in 2006 by Evolution 2 Motorsport and is now maintained in pristine condition.