BMW M60

The BMW M60 is a naturally aspirated V8 petrol engine which was produced from 1992 to 1996. It was BMW's first V8 engine in over 25 years.

The M60 was replaced by the BMW M62 engine.

Development
During the 1970s, BMW produced a prototype V8 engine for the E23 7 Series, however this engine did not reach production.

Development of the M60 began in 1984.

Design
The M60 engine has double overhead camshafts with four valves per cylinder. The camshaft is driven by a dual-row timing chain with a self-adjusting tensioner. Valves had hydraulic lash adjustment to reduce maintenance. The ignition and fuel injection systems are controlled by the Bosch Motronic 3.3 system, and the ignition system is a coil-on-plug design with knock sensors.

To reduce weight, the engine uses aluminum for both the engine block and cylinder head, magnesium valve covers and a plastic intake manifold. The M60 was BMW's first car engine to use a "split conrod" design, where sintered connecting rods are made as a single piece and then fractured in order to ensure increased rigidity and an exact fit. The dry weight of the engine is between 175 kg and 203 kg.

M60B30
The M60B30 has a bore of 84 mm and a stroke of 67.6 mm, for a displacement of 2997 cc. Compression ratio is 10.5:1, giving an output of 160 kW at 5800 rpm and 290 Nm at 4500 rpm.

Applications:
 * 1992–1995 E34 530i
 * 1992–1994 E32 730i
 * 1994–1996 E38 730i

M60B40
The M60B40 has a bore of 89 mm and a stroke of 80 mm, for a total displacement of 3982 cc. Compression ratio is 10.0:1, giving 210 kW at 5800 rpm and 400 Nm at 4500 rpm. It had a forged crankshaft.

Applications:
 * 1993–1995 E34 540i
 * 1992–1994 E32 740i
 * 1994–1996 E38 740i
 * 1992–1996 E31 840i
 * 1993–1998 De Tomaso Guarà

Alpina versions
Alpina produced a high compression (10.8:1) version of the M60B40 for the BMW Alpina B10 4.0 (based on the E34 5 Series) and the B11 4.0 (based on the E32 7 Series) and in some B8 4.0 models (based on the E36 3 Series) produced for the Japanese market. The M60 engine produced 234 kW in the B10 4.0.

The engine's displacement was later enlarged to 4619 cc for use in the B8 4.6 and B10 4.6. The power output is 253 kW in the B10 4.6 and 248 kW in the B8 4.6.

Nikasil damage from high-sulfur fuels
The M60 uses Nikasil- an alloy containing aluminium, nickel and silicon alloy- to line the cylinders bores. In fuels with high sulfur content (such as used fuels sold at the time in the United States, United Kingdom and South America), the sulfur damages the Nikasil bore lining, causing the engine to lose compression. In the U.S. and U.K., sulfur rich fuel is being phased out.

BMW replaced engines under warranty and Nikasil was eventually replaced by Alusil.

Nikasil engines are unlikely to be a problem today, as cars with affected engines are off the road or have received replacement engines.