The best BMW M5 E39 was built by VW. It received a unique W10 engine and was driven by Ferdinand Piëch himself, it is for sale
yesterday | Petr Prokopec
Photo: GDM Motors, press materials
It is fascinating what could have been quietly created behind the gates of car factories in its time. We learn about one such project more than two decades apart, and the best proof of its existence can be told to you by sir.
Most people associate the BMW M5 with eight-cylinder engines, but their use cannot be considered a rule. The first two generations were six-cylinder, and only in 1998 did the automaker install a 4.9-liter V8 unit, which appears in other forms in the M5 from 2011 until today. The most exceptional is the E60/E61 generation from 2004 to 2004, when the sedan and station wagon received a five-liter ten-cylinder engine. In addition, this unit could be paired with a seven-speed sequential gearbox, both of which had their roots in BMW Sauber’s Formula 1 single-seater.
That five-liter engine was the brand’s first and only production ten-cylinder engine. Like other BMW M engines of the time, it had little in common with the aggregates of a dozen models, and the Munich automaker extracted 507 horsepower and 520 Nm of torque from it. At the time, it achieved more than 100 horsepower per liter, which was exceptional for such a large naturally aspirated engine. On the other hand, however, the unit weighed a considerable 240 kilos, the weight of the car thus increased to a then high 1,730 kilos (even the M3 weighs more today…).
However, few people know that the M5 received a ten-cylinder earlier. After all, the traces of a project more mysterious than a castle in the Carpathians do not lead to Munich, but to Wolfsburg. In 1998, the VW concern also included the brands Bentley and Bugatti under its wings. At the same time, the head of the German Empire at the time, Ferdinand Piëch, entrusted Dr. Sabina Willeke with the development of new engines of unusual concepts, which should differentiate future production from the past. Thus, the W16, W12, W10 and W8 aggregates came to light.
Of this quartet, however, only three units were used in serial production, with the eight-cylinder headed, among other things, under the hood of the Volkswagen Passat, while the twelve-cylinder was mainly associated with British road cruisers. The 16-cylinder unit, on the other hand, had only one user, namely Bugatti, which installed it first on the Veyron and then on the Chiron. After all, this is the swan song of the whole family, which will see its final departure from the scene in about two years.
But back to the ten-cylinder, which was created by combining two VR5 engines. It also had a short life in VW’s offer, however, compared to the W10 unit, ordinary customers could also reach for it. The W10 unit ended up in only one prototype, which was the BMW M5. Specifically, it was a different eight-cylinder generation E39. At that time, Volkswagen did not have any of its own car in which to properly test the engine, so it reached for the em-five, which it made a better car than the Bavarian brand. The engine of an unusual design is supposed to have 507 horses and 550 Nm, i.e. similar parameters as the later fork ten-cylinder from BMW itself.
Piëch liked this combination so much that he started using the car as his personal car. However, he ultimately did not give the green light to the project. The ten-cylinder BMW M5 E39 is therefore a real one-of-a-kind, so we are all the more surprised that it is now on sale. In addition, it is not sent to the world by a car company, but by the Belgian company GDM Motors, which, in addition to racing, also restores classic cars. She refuses to disclose how this rare sedan came to her.
The price is also a question, but in this case, definitely don’t count on the price. The E39 generation is taken to heaven by BMW fans. And even if we have her “hardening” here to a certain extent, the result will hardly be less valuable. Especially when the Volkswagen unit has better parameters, as the Munich eight-cylinder engine sent 400 hp and 500 Nm to the rear. Even for cars without a limiter, this is enough to reach the magic three hundred mark.
With higher power, an even higher value can be expected, while the time required for acceleration to a hundred (4.8 s) certainly went down. Quite possibly, we have here the fastest “factory” M5 E39 in history. Only that factory wasn’t BMW… It’s actually a sleeper of sorts, because apart from the engine, everything on the car was left as it was. Both the rear-wheel drive and the six-speed manual gearbox were therefore retained. Keeping this one-of-a-kind alive can be quite a pain in the ass, but who wouldn’t want to ride like the famous Dr. Piëch?
For sale is a unique BMW M5 E39 fitted with a prototype W10 engine from Volkswagen. The car was once used by Ferdinand Piëch, so its historical value is certainly high. That is also why it is surprising that the car company did not lock it in its depository, but in the case of the use of a foreign donor car, this is understandable. Photo: GDM Motors, press materials
Source: GDM Motors
Petr Prokopec
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2023-08-08 06:24:13
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