Immediately after being established in 1916, BMW designed a six cylinder, inline, water cooled piston engine, the BMW I. With slight variations this became the BMW II and the BMW III. The BMW III was the definitive BWM engine of World War I.
The BMW III was designed with high compression (6.4). The engine would have blown up at full power at sea level so the throttle was designed to open progressively as altitude was gained.

models

• IIIa: 185 hp (138 kW)

specifications

• 6-cylinder, inline, piston engine
• water-cooled
• Displacement: 1,164 cubic inches (19.1 litres)
• Bore x stroke: 150 x 180 mm

used by

• Fokker D.VII