In , Renault entered Formula One with a turbocharged engine. After the success Renault had, BMW decided to develop its own turbo engine. BMW announced the new program in April 1980. The engine was based on the BMW M10, a four-cylinder, 1.5 litre, normally aspirated (non-turbocharged) engine designed in the late 1950s. The racing version, the M12, had been successful in Formula Two and other series. The prototype 1.4 litre turbo engine soon developed 600 bhp. It used a single Kühnle, Kopp & Kausch (KKK) turbocharger, Bosch electronics, and fuel injection. This engine was developed into the M12/13, the race engine BMW supplied to five teams from 1982 to 1988.
BMW first made a deal to supply the M12/13 engine only to the Brabham. Testing of the M12/13 started in late 1980. A new car, Brabham BT50 was design for the engine. The new car was not finished until will into the season. The team's lead driver, Nelson Piquet, tested the BT50 throughout 1981. The car was unreliable until Bosch improved the electronics.
Brabham began the 1982 season with two BMW-powered BT50 chassis. Because of reliability problems, the BT50 was not used at all the races that year. BMW saw their first win in Canadian Grand Prix, where the cool conditions helped the turbocharged engine. The BT50 was used for the rest of the season. The car was still unreliable, and the drivers only made four finishes the rest of the season.
In , the reliability of the BMW engine was improved. The new Brabham BT52 allowed Nelson Piquet to win the Drivers' Championship. Brabham finished third in the Constructors' Championship. BMW also began supplying its engines to the German ATS team this season. Manfred Winkelhock, the only driver for the team, was unable to score any points.
For , BMW expanded to three teams, supplying the M12/13 to Arrows. In , BMW was back to two teams. ATS had left Formula One. Piquet won one race, the French Grand Prix. It was the only win for BMW that year.
For the 1986 season, BMW was back to three teams with the addition of Benetton. Benetton had the most success, scoring 19 points, and winning the Mexican Grand Prix. In , BMW only supplied Brabham with works engines. Arrows and Ligier used the "Megatron", a rebadged BMW engine. At the end of the year, Benetton team owner Bernie Ecclestone decided not to compete the following year. This ended the BMW turbo engine. The Arrows team still used the "Megatrons" engine for . They finished fifth in the Constructors' Championship, their best finish in the team's 25-year history.
For , the technical regulations were changed to ban turbocharged engines. During the M12/13 engine's time in F1, the engine had won the 1983 Drivers' Championship and nine Grands Prix. It also took 14 pole positions and set 13 fastest laps.
Williams had been very successful using Renault engines. They won the , , and Drivers' Championships. They also won the , , , and Constructors' Championships. When Renault left F1 at the end of 1997, Williams needed a new engine. In , the BMW signed a contract to supply the Williams team with engines.
BMW spent 18 months building and testing a normally aspirated, 3.0 litre V10 engine. The E41 engine was ready to race in the 2000 season. The Williams FW22 with the BMW E41 engine was driven by Ralf Schumacher and Jenson Button. Schumacher scored a podium finish in the engine's first race. The team finished the year with two more podium finishes, and third in the Constructors' Championship.
For , BMW designed a more aggressive P80 engine. The engine had a big power improvement. Schumacher and new team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya scored four race wins. For , the team won only one race with Schumacher at the Malaysian Grand Prix. Montoya took seven pole positions, but was not able to win a single race.
The Williams team was more competitive in . Both drivers won on two time. For , Williams produced the FW26 chassis with a radical nose section. This design did not work very well. Williams slipped to fourth in the Constructors' Championship. Montoya's victory in the Brazilian Grand Prix the team's only win (and the team's final win to date). Both Schumacher and Montoya left the team at the end of the season.
BMW bought Swiss team Sauber in June 2005 to form the BMW Sauber F1 Team. The takeover came after BMW's relationship with Williams had deteriorated in the previous months, the partnership ending at the end of the season. The team was based at Sauber's headquarters in Hinwil, Switzerland and BMW's headquarters in Munich, Germany.
The team scored two podium finishes and came fifth in 2006, its first season in Formula One. This was followed by a second place in 2007 after the McLaren team had been excluded from the championship. Polish driver Robert Kubica took the team's only Grand Prix victory at the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix. Following a poor season, BMW withdrew from Formula One and sold the team back to founder Peter Sauber.
For the 2006 season, BMW Sauber signed Nick Heidfeld from Williams to be the lead driver, while World Champion Jacques Villeneuve had his existing two-year contract with Sauber honoured. Robert Kubica was signed as the team's third driver. The team continued to use Sauber's facilities, mostly for chassis construction and wind tunnel testing, while BMW's headquarters in Munich were responsible for building the new 2.4 litre P86 V8 engine, revised technical regulations forcing a change from the 3 litre V10 formula. This replaced the Petronas-badged Ferrari engines which the team had used since 1997. The Sauber team's existing major sponsors, Petronas and Credit Suisse, renewed their contracts with BMW. The team also announced a technical partnership with technology company Intel. The team's new livery, which was maintained throughout its tenure in Formula One, consisted of the traditional BMW blue and white with a hint of red.
Villeneuve scored the team's first points with a seventh-place finish at the Malaysian Grand Prix, after Heidfeld retired from fifth with an engine failure late in the race. Over the first two thirds of the season the drivers picked up points with a succession of seventh and eighth-place finishes, plus a fourth-place finish for Heidfeld at the Australian Grand Prix. The team ran a radical "twin towers" aero enhancement on the front of the car for the French Grand Prix, which was meant improve the flow of air over the top of the chassis. The parts were promptly banned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) as they were adjudged to impede the drivers' vision and thus compromise safety.
Heidfeld scored the team's first podium finish at the Hungarian Grand Prix from tenth on the grid. This race also saw the début of Robert Kubica, who replaced Villeneuve after the latter had crashed heavily at the preceding German Grand Prix. Kubica finished seventh, although he was later disqualified after his car was found to be underweight. The official reason for Villeneuve's absence was that he was recovering from his previous accident, but the team later announced that the driver change was permanent. Kubica scored BMW Sauber's second podium finish of the season at the Italian Grand Prix, after running in third place for most of the race and leading briefly during the first round of pit stops. Heidfeld finished in eighth, but set the team's first fastest lap. The team scored a total of 36 points to finish fifth in the Constructors' Championship, an improvement on Sauber's eighth position with 20 points in .
On 19 October 2006, BMW announced that Robert Kubica would partner Nick Heidfeld for the 2007 Formula One season with Sebastian Vettel taking the test and reserve driver role. Timo Glock was later signed as the team's second test driver. The team launched its 2007 car, the F1.07, on January 16, 2007.