Found a write up on the 745i
My father had one a million years ago was epic! (just hated to stop!)
BMW’s locally-built 745i was a really special car. Because it was powered by a very special engine – the M88/3 – which was a tweaked version of the M88 that resided in BMW’s most legendary M car, the BMW M1. While the BMW AG-built 745i found its propulsion courtesy of a 188kw turbocharged 12-valve M102, because of packaging restrictions caused by the addition of the turbocharger, this engine could not be fitted to right-hand drive cars. The Pretoria-built 745i though was gifted with the BMW Motorsport-designed 24-valve M88/3 – which was also used in the E24 BMW M635CSi and E28 BMW M5 sedan. Like the 12-valve M30 engine upon which it is based, the M88 had a displacement of 3,453cc. Unique to the M88 was the four-valve crossflow cylinder head designed for better breathing at high rpm and a pair of 264-degree camshafts. With Bosch Motronic engine management, it could rev to 7,000rpm; and produced 213kw and 340nm. These motors were basically over engineered for its application in the M1, as they featured some expensive hardware like a steel crankshaft, forged pistons and conrods and a valvetrain that was rated safe to 10,000rpm. The 745i was available with either a ZF 4-speed automatic transmission or a close-ratio Getrag 5-speed manual (from the 535i) with a “dogleg” shift pattern – with both being equipped with a limited slip differential. Braking was strong, as the brakes came straight off the M5 – with the discs measuring in at 300mm up front and 285mm at the rear. The easiest way to spot a 745i was by its 16” BBS Mahle wheels - which featured special center caps bearing the BMW M colors, while its Nappa leather and discreet M logos on the dials gave the game away inside. In 1985, the 745i became the fastest South African built car, when it achieved a top speed of 235.6kph, besting the 224.2kph set by the Alfa Romeo GTV6 3.0 by some margin. But their rivalry didn’t stop there, and continued onto the race track. With the Tony Viana campaigned 745i achieving immense success in the local racing scene in the mid-1980s. Incidentally, the 745i raced in the Group One Modified Saloon Car Championship, was the only BMW-sanctioned motor sport application in the history of a 7-series car. Just 209 745is were built, each carrying a price tag of around R70 052.
raise:
