BMW M1 E26

BMW's high profile motor sport programme of the 1970's spawned some truly spectacular machinery and greatly enhanced the Munich firms reputation. However, they were still overshadowed by Porsche whose various 911-based competition cars were the dominant force in GT racing around the globe. The M1 though was built to change all that and win the Group 5 World Championship for Manufacturers. Group 5 regulations had been introduced in 1976 and were commonly referred to as the Silhouette category as qualifying cars had to resemble their road-going counterparts in little more than the most basic outline.

Having been in on the drawing board since 1975, the E26 was the brainchild of BMW Motorsport manager, Jochen Neerspach. His plan was for the M1 to debut in March 1978 at the Geneva Salon and go onto race at Le Mans that June. But delays began pushing this deadline back and by the time the M1 was production ready, the FIA had dealt a massive blow to BMW's competitive aspirations. Reversing an existing homologation policy almost overnight, the governing body implemented a ruling that stated 400 road-going examples now had to be constructed before entry into Group 5 could be granted, a cruel decision considering the M1 would go on to be produced at the rate of just two cars a week. Neerspach did, however, secure something of a coup by talking the FIA's Max Moseley into running Group 4 M1's in a high profile one-make series that supported many of the European Grand Prix's. As BMW Motorsport didn't have the capacity to produce this all-new machine, Neerspach began looking for a specialist manufacturer to build the 400 plus units required. With facilities to rival almost any high performance manufacturer, cash-strapped Lamborghini were chosen to handle the M1's development and production. Despite the near bankrupt Sant' Agata firm receiving an investment of over L1m from the Italian government to secure the contract, these funds were squandered on the absurd Cheetah ATV and by the time M1 production had been scheduled to start, Lamborghini were in no position to begin manufacture. Just a handful of promising prototypes were running and BMW pulled the plug in April 1978.

BMW then began a most complicated assembly procedure with M1's being worked on in various stages at Marchesi in Modena, Ital Design in Turin and Baur in Stuttgart. Marchesi were commissioned to produce the Lamborghini-designed square section steel-tubed spaceframe, attached to which were fully adjustable unequal length wishbones with coil springs and height adjustable gas-filled Bilstein dampers. Lamborghini's chassis guru, Giampaolo Dallara, the man responsible for the 350 GT, Miura and Countach, had done much of the M1's suspension work, fitting anti-roll bars front and rear (23mm and 19mm respectively) and importantly making sure the M1 ran geometry suitable for Pirelli's revolutionary P7 tyres.

Braking was via servo-assisted ventilated discs at the front and solid items at the rear, these being combined with a split hydraulic circuit and Bosch ABS. Distinctive radial-straked 16-inch Campagnolo alloys were 7 and 8-inches wide at the front and rear whilst a space saver tyre was located in the luggage compartment behind the engine. Once Marchesi finished the chassis and Ital Design had fitted the bodywork, Baur fitted mechanical components and interiors. The M1's engine was derived from BMW's Typ M88 unit as used in the immortal Group 2 CSL Batmobile's throughout much of the seventies. A straight six with dual overhead camshafts and a four-valve cylinder head, the M1's Typ 88/1 motor differed to the aforementioned CSL in featuring new pistons, longer connecting rods and a forged steel crankshaft. Dry sumped and with a displacement of 3453cc thanks to bore and stroke measurements of 93.4 x 84mm respectively, the incredibly docile Typ 88/1 produced 277bhp at 6500rpm. Compression was set at 9.0:1 and fuel injection was a Kugelfischer-Bosch system with Magnetti Marelli ignition, BMW choosing a five-speed ZF gearbox. Top speed was 163mph and 0-60 took just 5.5 seconds. As mentioned earlier, the M1's bodwork was created at Ital Design by Giorgetto Giugiaro, fabrication taking place in glassfibre by Trasformazione Italiana Resina before being bonded to the chassis back at Ital's. Although retaining some traditional BMW styling cues, the E26 was a complete departure from any of the marque's previous road cars, prominent features at the front seeing large retractable headlights (used for the first time on a BMW) integrated with trademark kidney grilles.

A wraparound deep front spoiler was the M1's only obvious aerodynamic aid, the rest of Giugiaro's design remaining remarkably unadorned by the wings and blisters of so many seventies supercars. Also unlike most of its contemporaries, the M1 had a real elegance with its clean, crisp and uncluttered lines. The side profile was dominated by the unique Campagnolo alloy wheels, the three-quarter window kick-up and heavily vented flying buttresses. The tail facia employed 6-series light clusters and a twin outlet drivers side exhaust. Inside, many parts were sourced from BMW's production models although this didn't detract too much from the cabin as although it may have been a little less stylish than some, ergonomically the M1 was unmatched.

Sombre and functional, all M1's left the factory finished in left-hand drive and with black on grey interiors. Recaro sports seats featured bolsters trimmed in black leather whilst the centres were grey-effect woven cloth. BMW's instrument binnacle provided an unimpeded view of the facia, the whole cabin being designed and constructed with typical German attention to detail. Fitted as standard was air-conditioning, electrical windows and mirrors, a three-spoke Motorsport steering wheel and a heated rear window. After the enormously complicated construction procedure, all M1's were finally tested by BMW Motorsport engineers in Munich to ensure everything was up to scratch. Members of the press were first to see the M1, its debut taking place at Munich's Olympic Stadium during spring 1978 when a Motorsport-liveried Group 4 was shown (minus rear aerofoil) in anticipation of the new one-make Procar series for 1979. It wasn't until October 1978 that the production M1 made its debut, this coming at the Paris Salon where it was star of the show. Going into production in February the next year, the M1 caused an absolute sensation despite (or maybe because of) being more expensive than almost any other vehicle available. However, the high price was to prove a big problem for BMW as many M1's had to be heavily discounted in order to get them out of dealers showrooms. Regardless, the model remained in production until July 1981 with 456 examples of all types eventually having been constructed, every road version being finished to an identical specification as dictated by homologation requirements.