High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The BMW OHV V8 engine was the first V8 engine made by BMW, produced from 1954 to 1965. This engine is usually named by the fact that it was the only overhead valve V8 ever produced by BMW. All subsequent BMW V8 engines would use double overhead camshafts as well as fuel injection, but the development of the next V8 engine by BMW would not take place for more than three and a half decades. The BMW 501 was a larger and heavier car than BMW had ever made before when it premiered in 1952, and it was the first BMW car made in West Germany after a long hiatus after World War II. But it was powered with an elderly straight-6 from before the war, and though power was increased to 65 horsepower (48 kW), it was a sluggish performer. Their primary competitor, Mercedes-Benz, fielded the W187 in the same class but with superior performance. In order to reassert their status as the producer of sporty sedans, BMW debuted a 501 with a pushrod V8 engine. This was called the BMW 502. This V8 engine was available in 2.6 L (157 in3) and 3.2 L (193 in3) form.