User:Dave.tr4a/sandbox

BMW began development of turbochargers in 1945 in collaboration with Württembergische Metallwarenfabrik (WMF), these early experimental turbochargers for diesel engines had very limited reliability and in 1947 WMF sold their turbo intellectual property to Eberspächer, an automotive exhaust system manufacturer. Eberspächer continued to develop the turbocharger initially in a consortium with Bosch and Garrett and later independently. Eberspächer's turbochargers had model designations in the form EBxx and were used on diesel engines from Mercedes, Volvo, Pegaso & many others.

Many car manufacturers explored the use of turbochargers in racecar applications in the 1960s. In 1968 Alex von Falkenhausen, head of BMWs engine development team suggested applying turbocharging to BMWs touring car M10 engines. Using an Eberspächer turbocharger initially developed for diesel engines, the BMW team raised the output of the M10 from 200 hp to 280 hp. This boost in power enabled von Falkenhausen's son-in-law, Dieter Quester, to win the 1969 European Touring Car Championship in a BMW 2002 TiK (K for Kompressor, a general German word for forced induction). 1970 ETCC rules were tightened to only allow turbochargers on cars homologated with with 1000 unit sales. This situation encouraged BMW to create a roadgoing high-performance car with a turbocharged engine, internal project E20, this was a detuned version of the racing M10 engine with a similar Eberspächer 'EB32G' turbo unit.

In 1972, BMW unveiled the E25 BMW Turbo concept car with a 280hp turbocharged engine directly derived from the ETCC program. In the same year the competition in the turbo business forced Eberspächer to sell their turbocharger division to Kühnle, Kopp & Kausch KKK, who continued to produce the Eberspächer designs under their old designations, before offering its Kxx series of products.