It was also the first German 12-cylinder post-war automobile engine, predating Mercedes-Benz's M120 by four years and VAG's W12 by fourteen.

The second alternator is smaller and is used to charge an auxiliary battery and power equipment in the rear passenger compartment, such as a telephone, fax machine, wine cooler, independent climate control and power sun shields.

[17] With 1,510 units produced, this is the lowest production BMW engine to date.

[18] Three prototype dual overhead camshaft S70 engines were constructed, prior to the decision to not produce an E31 M8 model.

[19] Applications: The S70/2, while sharing the same 12 cylinder layout, bore spacing and design principle as the S70B56, is essentially a new design with the heads based on the European market S50B30,[20] and thus featuring 4 valves per cylinder and variable valve timing (called VANOS by BMW) and individual throttle bodies.