Throughout its life, the BMW M3 has never been powered by a V10 engine. However, the E60 BMW M5 did get one and this particular E46 M3 decided to borrow the former’s heart, lungs and vocals. This footage below was captured back in 2013 when this V10-powered M3 broke the Nürburgring’s 130 dB flyby noise limit as it bellowed down the main straight, accompanied by big flames coming out of its exhaust bypass valves.
The V10 monster powering this E46 M3 was introduced with the E60 BMW M5 in 2005. This version of the M5 was also the World’s first sedan to be powered by a naturally aspirated V10 engine. Dubbed as the S85, the 5.0-litre V10 motor cranked out 500 bhp at 7,700 rpm and 520 Nm of torque at 6,100 rpm. It was paired with an SMG III, 7-speed, single-clutch gearbox which could find another cog for the driver in as less as 65 milliseconds! Powered by this motor, the E60 M5 could sprint from 0 – 100 km/h in a little over 4 seconds and could hit 305 km/h with the optional, M driver’s pack. The sedan was so ahead of its times, it featured a HUD 15 year ago and has a Ring time of 8:13 to its name of.
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Phil Morrison, the person behind this transplant managed to plonk that mad motor in the bay of what is considered one of the best generation of BMW 3 Series sedans till date. This particular generation of the BMW M3 was only available in Coupe and Convertible forms and is powered by a 3.2-litre, naturally aspirated straight-six which cranked out 338 Bhp and 365 Nm of twist. It could redline till 8,000 rpm and was offered either with a 6-speed manual transmission or an SMG-II 6-speed automated manual transmission, which used an electrohydraulically actuated clutch and allowed shifting via the gear knob or paddles mounted on the steering wheel. The legendary M3 GTR had also spawned out of this very car, of which, only 10 examples were ever made. The GTR was powered by a slightly detuned state of a naturally aspirated V8 with a flat-plane crank, which was lifted straight off the M3 GTR that raced in the American Le Mans Series.