2001 BMW X5 Le Mans Concept Had the V-12 Heart of a McLaren F1
From the Archive: For giggles, BMW engineers fitted an X5 with the 700-hp V-12 from the McLaren F1 racer and flogged it on the Nürburgring. We went for a ride.
From the January 2001 issue of Car and Driver.
At Schwalbenschwanz, a horseshoe-shaped left-hander on the Nürburgring Nordschleife, probably named for a machine that suctions vomit off upholstery, it begins to rain. Hans Stuck just stomps the accelerator.
Speedy SUVs
BMW has hired the stringy-haired, perpetually smiling German hotshoe to ferry writers around the 12.9-mile, 73-turn Nordschleife in a one-of-a-kind X5 sport-ute fitted with a V-12 engine from one of BMW’s Le Mans-winning sports-prototype cars. Stuck, 50, himself a two-time winner at the Circuit de la Sarthe and a starter in 74 Grands Prix, is determined to hit 170 mph on the Nordschleife’s looming straightaway, rain be damned. With the engine shrieking at 8000 rpm in fifth gear, Stuck calmly points to the speedometer and says, «Look—170, ja?»
Ja, indeed. The X5 LM ranks right up there with the ill-considered purchase of Rover as evidence that the boys in Bavaria have gone completely meshuga. Last spring, they plucked an X5 off the South Carolina assembly line and brought it back to the mothership in Munich. A 15-member surgical team was waiting there with one of BMW’s cast-alloy, 6.0-liter V-12s selected from the stable of engines used to assault and conquer the 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans.
«We wanted to find out what the absolute limitations are of the basic X5.» Project Leader, Edward Walek.
The compact 60-degree DOHC unit is narrower and shorter than the X5’s stock 4.4-liter, 90-degree V-8, so it settled in without much persuasion. However, the V-12 weighs 176 more pounds than the V-8. It also needs 50 percent more cooling area, so the surgeons cut gaping holes in the bumper and hood to move cold air in and hot air out. Pending news that oxides of nitrogen are actually good for us, the exhaust is pure, untreated toxins.
It could have been worse. The original plan was to shove in a V-10 from Ralf Schumacher’s Williams-BMW Formula 1 car. But none of BMW’s conventional transmissions can handle an 18,000-rpm redline, and X5 project leader Edward Walek wanted to keep the driveline and body as close to stock as possible.
The horribly mutated X5 LM is capable of reaching 186 mph, owing to a V-12 that makes 700 hp at 8000 rpm.
«We wanted to find out what the absolute limitations are of the basic X5,» Walek says. The other reason: Get people accustomed to the idea of a BMW super-ute. BMW will begin building a hot version of the 4900-pound X5 within 18 months. Prototypes dubbed «X5 HP» were on hand at the Nordschleife featuring the BMW V-8 bored and stroked a few millimeters to 4.6 liters and mated to a recalibrated General Motors five-speed automatic. A short test drive on public roads revealed some electrifying thrust from the 350-hp V-8. Expect runs to 60 mph in less than six seconds and a top speed of about 150 mph.
Meanwhile, the horribly mutated X5 LM is capable of reaching 186 mph, owing to a V-12 that makes 700 horsepower at 8000 rpm. That’s about 200 more horses than the Le Mans car, because the X5 breathes through twin 80-millimeter conduits. (At Le Mans, the engines were restricted to 32-mm apertures.) The power is transmitted via a twin-plate racing clutch to a ZF six-speed manual from an old 8-series coupe. The gearbox is apparently hardy enough to stand up to the engine’s 531 lb-ft of torque, but not in first or second gears, which are only allowed to see part throttle. The stock all-wheel-drive transfer case preserves the X5’s torque split of 38 percent up front and 62 to the rear.
Apart from the engine and transmission, the rest of the X5 LM is largely stock. It squats lower by 1.9 inches in the front and 1.6 inches in the rear, sports firmer springs and bushings, and wears 20-inch wheels veneered with Euro-market 275/35ZR-20 Michelin tires in the front, 315/35ZR-20s behind. ABS is gone, as is the hill-descent feature used to give ordinary X5s a dram of off-road capability.
Fitted with slicks, the X5 LM did lap the Nordschleife in a blistering eight minutes, five seconds—15 seconds faster than the factory’s Z8 roadster. On this soggy day, however, Stuck was sandbagging to preserve the car for all 14 scheduled laps (the last time this was tried, the X5 blew up after only two). He kept the rampant understeer in check by expertly playing the throttle and steering wheel against each other with insect-quick movements, and a few sideways slides kept the adrenaline flowing for his passenger. After 14 laps, the X5 was still running. And they didn’t even need a Schwalbenschwanz.
BMW X5 Le Mans Concept Brings V12 Engine To Bratislava Museum
BMW has made some wild concepts over the years, but few have been as interesting as the X5 Le Mans. Proving even an SUV can be thrilling, the M division crammed a twelve-cylinder engine borrowed from the V12 LMR into the E53. It happened back in 2000, a year after the endurance race car triumphed at Le Mans.
BMW Group Classic has the one-of-a-kind SUV temporarily on display in Slovakia at the Danubiana Meulensteen Art Museum. You can check out the high-performance SUV and its four bucket seats until Sunday, June 25.
One of the reasons why the X5 Le Mans was so special is because it outpunched the race car as the M division unlocked the V12’s full potential. The massive 6.1-liter unit had over 700 horsepower whereas in the V12 LMR, it was dialed down to approximately 580 hp since it had to abide by certain racing regulations. With a massive 720 Newton-meters (531 pound-feet) of torque, the unique E53 hit 62 mph (100 km/h) in 4.7 seconds.
Some 23 years later, it’s still one of the fastest SUVs in the world. Racing driver Hans-Joachim Stuck managed to reach 193 mph (311 km/h) with the X5 Le Mans concept in a lightweight two-seat configuration. It’s truly a sight to behold, not just for its mighty engine, but also thanks to the exclusive 20-inch BBS LM wheels with massive 315/35 front and rear tires. Despite the huge engine, it had a near-perfect weight distribution of 51% front and 49% rear. Oh, we mustn’t omit power was routed to the rear wheels via a six-speed manual gearbox.
Even just by looking at the hood, you can’t tell this isn’t an ordinary first-generation X5. Made from laminated carbon fiber, the bonnet as the British say had a massive opening necessary to cool the engine. The M division also widened the speedy SUV and brought it closer to the road by 30 millimeters (1.18 inches) to improve handling and give it a meaner stance in the process.
In 2022, BMW waved goodbye to the V12 by killing the M760i as stricter emissions regulations are accelerating the downsizing process. Your only chance to get a V12 from the BMW Group is by stepping up to a Rolls-Royce, but even the ultra-luxury brand will retire the powerhouse by 2030 when it’ll go purely electric.
The BMW X5 Le Mans is a forgotten super SUV
Back in the late 90s and early noughties, SUVs were seen as utilitarian, practical ways to get over unfavourable terrain. They certainly weren’t great to drive and weren’t particularly fast either. Over the years, BMW has introduced cars that shape categories of their own — the X6 comes to mind, so does the 6 Series for that matter, but what you might not remember is that the X5 was one of the first SUVs that preferred to stay on the tarmac. Sure, it came with xDrive, but that was like bringing a pen to a gun fight. Nevermind that though because to demonstrate just how sporty the X5 was, BMW built a strictly one-off experimental vehicle — the X5 Le Mans and it was far ahead of its time.
The X5 Le Mans’ V12 made more power than the Le Mans-winning V12 LMR it borrows the engine from BMW X5 Le Mans
Why do I say that? Well, look around you. Behind the shutters of every locked down showroom is an SUV, from the lower rungs of the automotive sector to top dogs like Lamborghini, Bentley and Rolls-Royce, even Ferrari is making one! While all of those pride themselves with bonkers horsepower figures and Nurburgring lap times, the X5 Le Mans’ 6.1-litre V12, taken from the Le Mans-winning V12 LMR no less, produced 700bhp, 720Nm and was mated to a six-speed manual transmission! The X5 could sprint from to 100kmph from a standstill in just 4.7 seconds which is fast even by today’s ridiculously skewed standards! It also had a top speed of 278kmph (BMW clocked 311kmph without the rear seats) and as far as Nurburgring times are concerned, one fine day in June of 2001, Hans-Joachim Stuck lapped the Nordschleife in 7 minutes and 49 seconds — faster than any SUV before it. That record stood for almost 20 years, before supercar-SUV frankenstiens like the Lamborghini Urus and the Audi RS Q8 pipped it. That said, the latter of those two, which is the current record holder for production SUVs around the ’Ring is only seven seconds quicker with a time of 7 minutes and 42 seconds!
There aren’t a thousand ‘M’ badges around the car to tell you what this is
The central twin-mounted exhausts are a subtle nod to the power lurking
Interior of the X5 Le Mans stays largely similar to the standard X5
A racing V12 that four can enjoy!
Changes to the exterior include a massive slit in the carbonfibre bonnet to let out hot air, 30mm lowered ride height, wider arches and BBS Le Mans rims which are shod on 315/35 section tyres. There’s also twin, centrally mounted exhaust pipes at the rear, but not too much would give this away as something other than a regular X5. On the inside, there are bucket seats and a fairly standard interior, except for an M badge on the gear shifter and the massive central tunnel. But while the cosmetic changes are subtle, when the X5 Le Mans was fired up, you would have no doubt as to what this is. Watch BMW Classic’s video below to take a listen, and yes there’s a handwritten note for the starting procedure for it, if that isn’t cool, I’m not sure what is.
The X5 Le Mans might have been an off the charts, unfathomable product that no one could conceive to be a mass market product back then, but in today’s world (rich) enthusiasts would jump at the opportunity to buy a V12-powered, manual BMW X5! Yes, it would be too loud to have a conversation in, and that starting procedure would perhaps prove a bit too cumbersome before a trip to the shops, but as a piece of automotive history, as a game-changer, the X5 Le Mans is right up there with cars like the Volkswagen Golf GTI and the Lamborghini Miura. It paved the way for not just the first X5 M but also the slew of super SUVs that have followed after it.
BMW X5 with a Le Mans V12
While surfing the internet we came across BMW’s custom X5 LM. The company built the X5 with a 6.0 L P75 V12 from their Le Mans LMR race car. The motor produces 700+ horsepower which is more than the Le Mans race car because the engine in the X5 does not have air restrictors. They completed this project years ago but this is the first time we’ve heard of it. It sure sounds amazing going around the ring.
