Think of the time when BMW built an X5 with the V-12 of the McLaren F1

It was the year 2000 when BMW took an X5 off the assembly line in South Carolina and brought it to Munich, where it was equipped with the 6.1-liter V-12 that the Germans had driven in the LMR racing car at Le Mans a year earlier had started.

Only the X5 had an output of more than 700 hp, while the racing car “only” had 580 horses due to the prescribed air inlet restrictors.

Massive power aside, the X5 Le Mans reached 720 Newton-meters (that’s roughly 530 pound-feet) of torque and took just 4.7 seconds to get up to 100 km / h from a standstill. The official top speed was 278 km / h, but racing driver Hans-Joachim Stuck drove the X5 LM without rear seats and managed to reach 311 km / h.

The car and driver wrote back in 2001 that it was easier than expected to replace the engine. The donor car’s engine – a 4.4-liter V-8 – was wider and longer than the V-12, making it easy to mount under the hood. However, it was heavier (by 176 pounds) and required a 50 percent larger cooling surface. To solve the need for better airflow, BMW engineers cut holes in the front bumper and hood.

What’s even more interesting is that BMW initially wanted to put the V-10 from Ralf Schumacher’s Williams-BMW F1 car into the X5. This plan was dropped because the bearing transfer could not handle an 18,000 RPM redline. Speaking of gearboxes: the X5 LM had a double-disc racing clutch and the gearbox (six gears, manual!) Of an 8-series coupé. A pair of 20-inch BBS wheels replaced the stock kit and the suspension was lowered 30mm.

In a way, the bold BMW X5 LM was an example of what BMW can do in terms of performance with a soaring SUV. We can therefore say that the X5 LM paved the way for the X5 M and was tasked with preparing people for the madness ahead.