"With half the cylinders and half the power of todays V8 M3, the original 1986 car remains one of our all-time favourites. Its seemingly indestructible four-cylinder iron block, however, goes back to 1962 and the BMW 1500. This was also the block that formed the basis of the 1.5-litre turbo F1 engines that powered Brabham to many a race victory. That's not just the block type -- BMW Motorsport used actual 1500 blocks sourced from scrapyards, because the older the block, the fewer stresses remaining in it. Never has a production engine family been more versatile."
