Rare X5 v12 prototype

[TMJGA-X5]

Just saw an interesting article on Apple News about '10 BMWs that everyone forgot'

It's by Mark Cowley on Slash Gear - dated June 8th 2022.

BMW made a V12 X5 with700 hp - never went into production, unfortunately.

A few of the others are radical also.

[M302_imola]

V12 sound coming from a SAV/SUV

[crystalworks]

Originally Posted by TMJGA-X5

BMW made a V12 X5 with700 hp - never went into production, unfortunately.

You mean the E53 "Le Mans" X5? Had a manual gearbox too. Many have drooled over the sound it made going around the track.

[crystalworks]

BTW, here's a video of it going around the Ring. Turn your computer speakers/headphones/etc up... and enjoy the music.

[Vivek.]

Originally Posted by SlashGear

The super-SUV is now very much a fully-fledged segment of the car market, with cars like the Lamborghini Urus and Bentley Bentayga both being best-sellers for their respective brands. But, back in 2001, BMW was experimenting with a super-SUV of their own, way before most companies had even considered such a thing. The X5 LM was powered by the V12 engine that was used in the McLaren F1, which according to BMW made "over 700 horsepower." The car was developed as an engineering test bed to see just how fast an SUV could be, and it helped pave the way for the X5 M, the first M-badged production SUV.

It's worth noting that a 2022 BMW X5 M makes 600 horsepower, still over 100 horsepower short of what this skunkworks creation was producing over twenty years ago. The car used an all-wheel-drive system to put power to the asphalt, and a six-speed manual transmission was fitted. According to BMW M Magazine, the car held the Nürburgring Nordschleife SUV lap record for 19 years, from 2001 to 2020, setting a lap record of seven minutes and 49 seconds.

Read More: https://www.slashgear.com/889228/10-..._campaign=clip

Here's the segment of the article that OP is referencing!