BMW 328

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Note: This article describes the BMW 328 of 1937 - 1939. There have also been cars called BMW 328i and 328Ci made since the 1990s as models of the BMW 3 Series
BMW 328
BMW 328 (16.06.2007).jpg
Manufacturer Bayerische Motorenwerke
Production 1936–1940
464 produced[1]
Assembly Eisenach, Germany
Predecessor BMW 319/1
Successor BMW M1
Class Sports car
Body style(s) Roadster
Layout FR layout
Engine(s) 1971 cc straight-6
Transmission(s) 4-speed manual
Wheelbase 2,400 mm (94.5 in)
Length 3,900 mm (153.5 in)
Width 1,550 mm (61.0 in)
Height 1,400 mm (55.1 in)
Curb weight 830 kg (1,830 lb)
Fuel capacity 13 US gal (49 L; 11 imp gal)[2]
Related BMW 319/1 (steering and suspension)
BMW 326 (brakes, engine block)[2]
Designer Fritz Fiedler
Alfred Böning
Alex von Falkenhausen
Ernst Loof

The BMW 328 is a sports car made by BMW between 1936 and 1940, designed by Kurt Joachimson. It featured many advanced features for its time, such as a tubular space frame and a hemispherical combustion chamber engine. It was much praised at the time for its performance and handling, proving to be suitable not only for the BMW factory drivers, but also perfect for everyday motoring.

Contents

[edit] Specifications

Specifications[1]
Engine straight-6 OHV (light alloy cylinder head)
Displacement 1,971 cc (1.971 L; 120.3 cu in) (66 mm (2.6 in) Bore × 96 mm (3.8 in) Stroke)
Compression ratio 7,5 : 1
Fuel feed 3 Solex 30 JF downdraft carburetor
Power 80 PS (59 kW; 79 hp)@5000rpm*
Motor control lateral cam shaft, drive by duplex chain
Fuel capacity 50 L (13 US gal; 11 imp gal) (if needed 100 L (26 US gal; 22 imp gal) possible)
Cooling Pump (7,5 l water)
Transmission 4-speed
Chassis Aluminium body and steel ladder frame[2]
Suspension front swing axle with transverse leaf springs
Suspension rear live axle with leaf springs
Shock absorbers Hydraulic shock absorbers
Brakes 280 mm (11 in)-diameter hydraulic drum brakes
Wheelbase 2,400 mm (94 in)
Track 1,153 mm (45.4 in)/1,220 mm (48 in)
External dimensions 3,900 mm (150 in) × 1,550 mm (61 in) × 1,400 mm (55 in)
Tires 5.25 or 5.50–16
Unloaded weight (without drivers) 830 kg (1,830 lb)
Top speed: 150 km/h (93 mph)
  • other sources say 4500 rpm.

[edit] Engine

The engine has hemispherical or cross flow combustion chambers. The intake valves are opened by the usual overhead valve push rod arrangement of a side cam, push rods, and rocker arms. The exhaust valves, on the other side of the cylinder head, are opened by the same cam shaft, vertical push rods, rocker arms, horizontal push rods, and a second set of rocker arms.

[edit] Awards

In 1999 the BMW 328 was named one of 25 finalists for Car of the Century by a worldwide panel of automotive journalists.

[edit] Motorsports

It won the RAC Rally in 1939 and came in fifth overall (first in its class) in the 1939 Le Mans 24 hours.

[edit] Mille Miglia

In 1938, BMW 328 became a class winner in Mille Miglia.

In 1940, the Mille Miglia Touring Coupe won the Mille Miglia with average speed of 166.7 km/h (103.6 mph).

In 2004, the BMW 328 Mille Miglia Touring Coupe became the first car to win both the Mille Miglia (1940) and the modern-day classical version of the race.[3]

[edit] Production

After the Second World War, the manufacturing plant in Eisenach where the 328 had been built found itself in the Russian occupation zone, and automobile manufacturing in Eisenach would follow a state directed path until German Reunification in 1989.

[edit] Influence on Bristol

One of the Mille Miglia 328s (disguised as a Frazer Nash) and BMW's technical plans for the car were taken from the bombed BMW factory by English representatives from the Bristol Aeroplane Company and Frazer Nash companies. Fiedler, the BMW engineer, was persuaded to come too. Bristol Cars was set up to build complete cars, called Bristols, and would also supply engines to Frazer Nash for all their post-war cars. The first Bristol car, the 400, was heavily based on the BMW plans. This Bristol engine was also a common option in AC cars, before the Cobra.

[edit] Gallery

BMW 328 photographed at the Gaisbergrennen, Salzburg, June 2004

1940 BMW 328 „Mille Miglia“, with Adolf Brudes as the driver

Picture of BMW 328 engine

BMW 328, production year 1938

BMW 328 on the Nürburgring

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b BMW 328 - The Legendary Roadster
  2. ^ a b c Norbye, p.48
  3. ^ Revealed:new BMW Mille Miglia!

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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v • d • e
BMW road car timeline, 1920s–1950s — next »
Type 1920s 1930s 1940s
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Straight-4 Dixi 3/15/Dixi 3/15 DA/Dixi 3/15 DA1/ 3/15 DA2/ 3/15 DA4 3/20 309
Straight-6 303
315, 319 329 320 321
326 326
327 327
335
Sports car DA-3 Wartburg 315/1, 319/1 328
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