2004 BMW H2R Record Car back in action: Hydrogen-powered 6.0L V12 Engine Sound!

If you ask me why I keep coming back to the Festival of Speed every year I'd show you this video. No, I don't mean this odd looking BMW is the reason but so are all those concept cars, curious one-offs and forgotten vehicles that pop up every year at Goodwood. And you can also see them in motion. The BMW in this video, called H2R, is one of those vehicles that you would think to see parked in some technical museum, gathering dust. Instead BMW classic recently restored the car and took it to the 2023 Festival of Speed alongside the new BMW iX5 Hydrogen. I would have loved to get more driving footage but unfortunately that's all I have. Back in 2004 BMW developed the H2R in only 10 months as an experimental vehicle to test and show the capabilities of a hydrogen-powered car. The car went on to set no fewer than nine records for hydrogen vehicles in France at the Miramas Proving Grounds. Also known as the Hydrogen Record Car, it had a remarkably low drag coefficient of just 0.21 and was relatively lightweight given its size, tipping the scales at 1,560 kg (3,440 pounds) with a driver, which wasn’t too bad for a vehicle stretching at a massive 5.40 meters. BMW was able to achieve the curb weight by using carbon fiber reinforced plastic for the body panels and an aluminum space frame structure. The H2R was originally designed to run on gasoline, but BMW decided to switch to hydrogen in order to demonstrate its potential. At the heart of the BMW H2R lies a modified 6.0-liter V12 engine, the same one used in the BMW 760i of those years. The V12 was then specifically engineered to run on hydrogen fuel where one of the main modifications included adapting a fuel injection system capable of handling hydrogen, featuring integrated injection valves within the intake manifolds. The engine produces 232 hp and 386 Nm of torque, allowing the H2R to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 6 seconds and reach a top speed of 302.4 km/h (187.62 mph). The H2R doesn't run on fuel cell technology but the liquid hydrogen is directly burnt in the combustion chamber, stored in a cryogenic tank within a carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) safety cell. Recently replaced with the one of the iX5 Hydrogen during the restoration phase, the tank maintains the hydrogen at a frigid -253 degrees Celsius, ensuring it remains in a liquid state. Specific adjustments were made to the V12 including a specific air-cooling feature for each cylinder to prevent premature ignition of the subsequent hydrogen/air mixture during combustion, due to the elevated temperature resulting from hydrogen combustion. Of course, the H2R never made it past the prototype stage, but it was the fruit of over 25 years of experimentation, setting also the tone for future hydrogen-powered BMWs. A couple of years later BMW introduced the Hydrogen 7, the world's first hydrogen-powered production vehicle based on the 760Li and which was using the same 6.0-liter V12 engine developed for the H2R. However, it has been modified to also allow for the combustion of hydrogen as well as petrol, making it a bivalent engine, due to the scarcity of hydrogen refueling stations. Watch it driving on the Goodwood's hillclimb course! #BMWH2R #BMWHydrogenCar #HydrogenV12 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I have to thank my friends and youtubers @Italiansupercarvideo, @MattyB727 and @NM2255 for the amazing collaboration done during the event. Don't forget to subscribe to their channels!! -- Subscribe to my 2nd channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3XVG02cKYsLyUUewv-qkoQ You can also find and follow me on: - Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/19bozzy92/ - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/19Bozzy92YT - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ste19bozzy92/ - Camcorders: Canon Legria HF G30 & GX10 + Canon DM-100 Microphone, Sony AX-53 + Audio Technica Microphone, Sony FDR AX700 with Audio-Technica Microphone - Event: Festival of Speed 2023 - Where: Goodwood, England Link To My Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/19Bozzy92 THANKS FOR WATCHING AND SUBSCRIBE!!!

Added 8 May 2026