BMW shook down its LMDh car on July 25 at the Autodromo Varano in Italy, a track a stone’s throw from Dallara, which has built it. At the same time it was confirmed that its engine is the P66/3 V8 turbo from BMW Motorsport. This will be married to the mandatory LMDh spec Xtrac/ Bosch/ Williams Advanced Engineering transmission/ hybrid system.
BMW Motorsport admits considering the 2.0 litre I4 turbo it used in the DTM in 2019 and 2020. However that was not able to run as a stressed member of the chassis and there was more of a question mark over its durability compared to the previous DTM engine, the naturally aspirated 4.0 litre, 90 degree bank angle V8 used 2012-18. This has a 102 mm bore spacing and a bore of 93 mm is married to a stroke of 73.6 mm for 3999.7 cc.
Also considered was the production-based 4.0 litre V8 used in LM GTE but the lighter weight of the bespoke DTM engine prevailed. That all-aluminium, dohc, 32 valve P66 engine was used from 2012-2016 then following regulation changes in revised P66/1 guise in 2017 and 2018. It had a straightforward conversion to twin turbos as the P66/2, which was used for extensive dyno testing prior to the definitive direct injected P66/3 being developed to suit the hybridised LMDh car.
That car will be campaigned in the 2023 IMSA series, which commences with the Daytona 24 Hours next January by the Rahal team. The plan is for a combined IMSA and WEC programme in 2024, including Le Mans. That will be BMW’s first attempt to win Le Mans outright since the 1999 victory for the Williams-BMW V12 sports-racing car.
