For the 803 the engineers decided to avoid this problem by simply not using a common crankshaft, and driving a set of independent contra-rotating propellers.

Displacing 83.6 litres, and using the same 156 mm bore and identical stroke measurements as each cylinder of the 801 used,[1] the four-row 803 engine weighed 2,950 kg (6,490 lb) dry, and 4,130 kg (9,086 lb) fully loaded.

[1] The engine was intended to be used only on the largest of designs, notably the Focke-Wulf Fw 238, the Focke-Wulf Ta 400 six-engined Amerikabomber design competition competitor, and other large bombers.

The big, 6-BMW 801-engined Ta 400 was proposed in 1942 as an upgraded version of the never-produced Focke-Wulf Fw 300, and was meant to compete directly against the Messerschmitt Me 264, Junkers Ju 390, and by the timeframe of February 1943;[3] what became Heinkel's Amerikabomber contract design, the Heinkel He 277 — itself meant to be powered by only a quartet of 1,470 kW (1,973 hp) output BMW 801E radials from the start[4] — for the May 1942-approved Amerika Bomber contract, for a trans-Atlantic range strategic bomber designed to attack New York City from European bases.

The projected range was enough for the round trip from France to New York, but it was of course never realized.