BMW has been racing the M Hybrid V8 since 2023 as part of its factory-backed endurance efforts. While the more attainable, track-only models are sold to privateers, that hasn’t been the case with the hybrid race car. Well, at least not yet, because that could soon change. The head of the firm’s motorsport division says he’s open to the idea of selling the V8 machine to customer teams.
In an interview with SportsCar365, BMW M Motorsport chief Andreas Roos was happy to report that “there’s interest from customer teams” in the M Hybrid V8. However, a final decision on whether sales will happen hasn’t been made. For now, the racing arm of the German luxury brand is “evaluating the whole picture.”
The top brass declined to confirm or deny whether private teams could be running the M Hybrid V8 as early as next season: “I don’t want to say yes and I don’t want to say no.” As for the cost? It would certainly be far above that of BMW M Motorsport’s other race cars. The current lineup starts with the newly announced M2 Racing at €98,000. Next is the M4 GT4 EVO at €219,000, and then the M4 GT3 EVO, which starts at €578,000.
While the M2 and M4 are related to their road-going counterparts, the M Hybrid V8 doesn’t have a street-legal equivalent. Homologation rules don’t require a production version, so that isn’t likely to change. BMW says the new M5 does inherit some hybrid tech from the flagship race car, but the twin-turbo V8s powering each are different.
Rather than the S68 found in various production models, the M Hybrid V8 uses the P66/3. It’s a race-bred engine with roots in DTM. The original P66/1 was a naturally aspirated 4.0-liter V8 used in the M3 E92 during the 2012 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters season. Meanwhile, the S68 will serve as the backbone of BMW M’s lineup, starting with the X5 M60i and up.
Source: Sportscar365
