[Law]

     Featured on BIMMERPOST.com

One of the greatest names in BMW Motorsport history, Paul Rosche has passed away on 15 November, 2016 at the age of 82.

BMW and M GmbH in particular, has a lot of proud moments in history thanks to Rosche, may he RIP.

Press Release:

Munich (DE), 16th November 2016. One of the most important engineers in the history of the BMW Group has passed away. Paul Rosche, who worked for BMW in various roles between 1957 and 1999, died at the age of 82 in his home town of Munich on Tuesday.

“We are all very saddened by this news,” said BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt. “Paul Rosche not only represented and characterised the company and the BMW brand with his passion, his vision and his immense technical expertise over many decades in action on the racetrack. The results of his work – no matter in which car or in which series – were frequently milestones of engineering skill. The loss of Paul Rosche is a loss of an outstanding personality for BMW Motorsport and BMW M. He constantly redefined the limits of what was technically possible. We will preserve this spirit at BMW Motorsport. Our deepest sympathies go to his family and friends.”

Forty two successful years serving BMW.

Camshaft calculations for sports engines was always Paul Rosche’s favourite area, which is why he was given the nickname ‘Nocken-Paule’. In 1957, directly after completing his degree, he joined BMW and, over the course of his 42 years as an employee, he guided the company into Formula One twice.

Before joining BMW Motorsport GmbH in 1975 as head of the design of the BMW M1 production and racing engines, Rosche was involved in the research and development department under the charge of Alexander von Falkenhausen. In 1969, he designed the 2-litre turbo engine with which BMW won the European Touring Car Championship.

In 1980, Rosche, as Technical Managing Director of BMW Motorsport GmbH, along with Dieter Stappert, laid the foundation for BMW’s first Formula One involvement, and, as head of the engine project, was also a key factor for the success of the BMW engines in the turbo era. Rosche and his team turned a four-cylinder production unit displacing just 1.5 litres into a potential world championship winner. Sixteen valves, a turbocharger and – in a first for Formula One – digital motor electronics all helped the engine to post an initial output of around 800 hp. The Brabham BMW made its grid debut at the start of the 1982 season; just 630 days later Nelson Piquet scooped the World Championship. By 1987 the turbo unit had nine grand prix wins under its belt and its potential seemed almost inexhaustible. When asked about the F1 engine’s maximum power output, Rosche once replied in his inimitable, irresistible manner: “It must have been around 1,400 hp; we don’t know for sure because the dyno didn’t go beyond 1,280 hp.”

Rosche also had a hand in the BMW M3 and the BMW V12 LMR.

The triumph in Formula One was the most spectacular, but far from a solitary success spawned by the ideas of the thoroughbred engineer born in Munich in 1934. Other power units that came out of Rosche’s fold were the large 2.0-litre four-valve four-cylinder engine, which racked up more than 150 race wins and six titles in the Formula 2 European Championship, as well as the 6.0-litre V12 engine that won the Le Mans race in 1995 and 1999. Rosche’s term of office also witnessed the development of the engine for the first-generation BMW M3, which was to be the basis of the most successful touring car in the world, as well as a new kind of driving pleasure on the road.

Following the retirement from Formula One of BMW in 1987, Rosche continued as Technical Managing Director of the BMW M GmbH until 1996. Subsequently, as Technical Director and Managing Director of BMW Motorsport Limited, he led BMW into Formula One as an engine manufacturer for a second time. In 1999, Rosche entered retirement.

Obituary: Paul Rosche, 1934-2016
http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/ob...4-2016-850997/

Paul Rosche, BMW’s legendary engine wizard for many years and the man behind some of the Munich company’s most successful racing projects, has died at the age of 82.

Rosche was perhaps best known for the 1.5-litre turbo that powered Brabham’s Nelson Piquet to the 1983 World Championship.


Born in Munich on April 1, 1934, Rosche first joined BMW straight from university in 1957, and from the start was deeply involved in the development of high performance engines for road and racing. Over the years he held several senior roles, including that of technical director of BMW Motorsport from 1979 to 1996.

After early successes in touring cars he was responsible for the 2-litre 4-cylinder that was a mainstay of F2 for more than a decade, and which powered Jean-Pierre Jarier, Patrick Depailler, Jacques Laffite, Bruno Giacomelli, Marc Surer and Corrado Fabi to European titles. He also created the 3.5-litre 6-cylinder that was utilised in the M1 raced by seven past or future World Champions in the Procar series in 1979-’80.


BMW joined forces with Bernie Ecclestone’s Brabham team in 1980, with Rosche’s 4-cylinder turbo making its first race weekend appearance in practice for the following year’s British GP. In 1982 it proved fast but fragile, although Piquet scored the first win in Montreal.

Helped by huge performance gains from electronics and fuel development Rosche’s engine and Gordon Murray’s iconic BT52 took Piquet to a sensational 1983 World Championship victory. However, poor reliability meant that BMW scored a total just eight GP wins with Brabham before withdrawing at the end of 1986, a season that also saw one success with Benetton and Gerhard Berger in Mexico as BMW fielded perhaps the most powerful engines F1 has ever seen.


Meanwhile the M3 touring car achieved huge success around the world. Rosche was then reunited with Murray as the man behind the V12 used in the McLaren F1 road car, which scored the marque’s first Le Mans win in 1995.

He was also heavily involved in the start of the collaboration with Williams that was first announced in 1997, and which resulted in a second Le Mans victory in 1999 with a full works entry. However after a company shake-up he was moved on before the partnership’s first Grand Prix together in 2000, much to the disappointment of Williams technical director Patrick Head.

An insight into Rosche and his way of working was given by current Mercedes engine chief Andy Cowell, who briefly worked with him in the early years of the Williams project. Cowell has used everything he learned from his mentor when creating the currently dominant hybrid V6 in Brixworth.

“In all his decades of experience Paul had seen hundreds of different ideas,” he told this writer a few months ago. “And he and I would spend afternoons and late evenings sketching stuff out on napkins. ‘What about this, what about that?’ He gave me some great guidance. He said, ‘What do you start with first Andy?’. I said, ‘This, this, and this.’ He said, ‘Don’t forget the cooling system, start with that.’ And a lot of that has stuck with me.

“Paul was very much an international character. And he had spent a lot of his time working with the F1 community, and he understood the F1 culture. So I found him very easy to get on with. Some working environments you feel like you have to have your guard up, but I didn’t feel like that at all with Paul. He was a lovely bloke to get along with.”

Motorsport.com sends its condolences to Rosche’s family, former colleagues at BMW and his many friends in the sport.

Photos also from: Autoblog

[Chihuahua]

RIP Camshaft Paul, you were the greatest.

[Law]

A brief tl;dr on some of the projects he worked on:

• 2002 Turbo / M31
• 320i Turbo / M12
• Brabham BT52 / M12/13
• BMW M1 / M88
• BMW GTP M12/14
• E30 M3 / S14
• McLaren F1 / S70/2
• V12 LMR / P75

[Dackelone]

BMW Group mourns the loss of Paul Rosche.

16.11.2016 Press Release
One of the most important engineers in the history of the BMW Group has passed away. Paul Rosche, who worked for BMW in various roles between 1957 and 1999, died at the age of 82 in his home town of Munich on Tuesday.

I also found this old press release from 2014... on Rosche's 80th Birthday. Shows you some of his career highlights...

BMW AG Press release
1 April 2014

BMW congratulates Paul Rosche: The “father” of the Formula One World
Championship engine turns 80 today. Munich. Though he embarked on his well-earned retirement 15 years ago, whenever the name Paul Rosche is mentioned among BMW Group engine developers it resonates with reverence to this day. There’s barely a higher accolade for the sporty performance of
a new power unit than the statement: “Paul Rosche will like it too.” The engineer who defined engine development at BMW for almost four decades, whose ideas led to legendary triumphs on the race track as well as definitively advancing production engine technology, celebrates his 80th birthday today.
Paul Rosche is the “father” of the turbo engine whose power swept Brazilian Nelson Piquet in the Brabham BMW to the Formula One World Championship title in 1983. This triumph in motor sport’s crowning discipline was the most spectacular, but far from solitary, success spawned by the ideas of the thoroughbred engineer born in Munich in 1934.

Other power units that came out of Rosche’s fold were the large 2.0-litre 16-valve four-cylinder engine, which raked in more than 150 race wins and six titles in the Formula 2 European Championship, as well as the 6.0-litre V12 engine that won the Le Mans race in 1995 and 1999.

As soon as he had completed his degree in 1957, the young engineer joined BMW’s engine development division as a designer. His early assignments included calculating camshafts for racing engines. This became Rosche’s specialisation and gave rise to his nickname “Nocken-Paul” (Camshaft Paul), still applied today with a mixture of admiration and affection. In one of his first projects the camshaft was the starting point for a near complete redesign of an engine. Rosche’s talent and ambition secured his subsequent involvement in the development of all production engines for BMW models, while the derivative sports variants were also designed under his aegis. The 2.0-litre turbo engine under the bonnet of the BMW 2002 that won the 1969 European Touring Car Championship bore Rosche’s signature, as did the six-cylinder engines of the BMW 320 and BMW 323i models from 1977 and 1978 respectively. It was only logical that, in 1973, Paul Rosche was appointed head of the main advanced development and racing engine development division. Two years later he moved to

BMW Motorsport GmbH, where he initially headed development of production and racing engines for the BMW M1 and, from 1979 to 1996, held the post of Technical Director. Rosche’s term of office not only saw the Group enter Formula One but also witnessed the development of the engine for the first-generation BMW M3, which was to be the basis of the most successful touring car in the world as well as a new kind of driving pleasure on the road.
That BMW took the decision to enter Formula One in the early 1980s was also down to Rosche’s dogged determination. Indeed, his team furnished the most compelling argument of all: the engine experts turned a four-cylinder production unit displacing just 1.5 litres into a potential world championship winner. 16 valves, a turbocharger and – in a first for Formula One – Digital Motor Electronics all helped the engine to post an initial output of around 800 hp. The Brabham BMW made its grid debut at the start of season 1982;
just 630 days later Nelson Piquet had scooped the World Championship. By 1987 the turbo unit had nine grand prix wins under its belt and its potential seemed almost inexhaustible. Asked about the F1 engine’s maximum power output, Paul Rosche once replied in his inimitable, irresistible manner: “It must have been around 1,400 hp; we don’t know for sure because the dyno didn’t go beyond 1,280 hp.”

The 1983 World Championship car was seen out on the track again last summer at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Prior to its appearance, the Brabham BMW BT52 had undergone comprehensive restoration work – a special commission involving many of the original mechanics of more than 30 years ago. In amongst them was Paul Rosche. Infatuated with the details as ever, and fondly addressed – through force of habit – by his former
colleagues as “boss”, he relished this resurrection of the historic racer. It was Rosche, too, who encouraged Nelson Piquet to come to Goodwood and revisit the cockpit of the BT52. Once again it was the engine guru’s innately Bavarian powers of persuasion that had secured another magical moment in motor sport.

I think all of us BMW fans will miss "Camshaft Paul".


Dack

[///M Power-Belgium]

May a legend of the motorsport RIP .
Prayers here for the man and his family .

[positiveions]

Camshaft Paul, you will be missed.
Thank you for being part of our love affair with BMW.

[m5 guy]

RIP. One of the most influential engineers to come out of BMW. Great write up too.

[c63er]

Fuck. Tragic news. He was literally the heart of so much good things bmw. The world is just bad news after bad news lately.

Let's see what kind of tool if any takes his place. One of a kind. Will be missed.

[deemo319]

When I jumped into BMW history after getting my first one in 1995, I was immediately impressed with Paul R and it it was a sad day yesterday.

[Anderw]

Just watched Adrenalin dvd and it's amazing what he helped accomplish for BMW, Rest In Peace

[cc3]

Shame they don't have anyone with his talent working in the company these days. A great guy what a track record. A very different BMW now

[GeeRam]

Originally Posted by cc3

Shame they don't have anyone with his talent working in the company these days. A great guy what a track record. A very different BMW now

Indeed, he was old school from the days when it was Engineers that rose up the company ladder in what is essentially a company that 'engineers' a product.

Now its the bean counters or people with marketing degrees or MBA's in some irrelevant subject that rise up the ladder.

[Paul-Bracq-BMW]

He was Mr BMW M(otorsport). Unfortunately there is no one like him at BMW anymore... Every BMW fan should watch the documentary "Adrenalin" to see his huge influence in the success of the brand for many years...

[Law]

Originally Posted by Paul-Bracq-BMW

He was Mr BMW M(otorsport). Unfortunately there is no one like him at BMW anymore... Every BMW fan should watch the documentary "Adrenalin" to see his huge influence in the success of the brand for many years...

A great film.
I was so excited for the release that I paid for the online stream because I just couldn't wait for my DVD to arrive. They later refunded the money I paid for the stream
A must watch for BMW Motorsport fans

[Anderw]

Originally Posted by Paul-Bracq-BMW

He was Mr BMW M(otorsport). Unfortunately there is no one like him at BMW anymore... Every BMW fan should watch the documentary "Adrenalin" to see his huge influence in the success of the brand for many years...

+1 great film , its such great story and very informative , should be a prerequisite to buy an M lol just kidding but many overlook the rich racing history of BMW M !!

[AntonySMith]

Paul Rosche - Last Interview. German Language.

[Law]

Originally Posted by AntonySMith

Paul Rosche - Last Interview. German Language.

Saw this one yesterday but I don't understand Deutsch

Perhaps @///M Power-Belgium can translate for us?

[goodNIGHT]

I learned about Paul Rosche today, what an amazing story. Congrats to Paul for leading an amazing, productive, and giving life. Weren't we all luck to have you..

[Paul-Bracq-BMW]

Originally Posted by Paul-Bracq-BMW

He was Mr BMW M(otorsport). Unfortunately there is no one like him at BMW anymore... Every BMW fan should watch the documentary "Adrenalin" to see his huge influence in the success of the brand for many years...

You can watch the movie (on demand) by doing a google seach with "watch vimeo adrenalin the movie". Sorry I could not paste the link...

[Ganxxta]

If nobody translates until tomorrow, I will do it.

Interesting insights, great man.

But now its time for me to sleep.

[EL Jeffe 5]

RIP

[N & M]

A man who made his mark on a brand and a field of engineering passes away. We have so much to be thankful for due to his efforts. May he rest in peace and may his successors use his legacy as an inspiration.