Say goodbye to BMW's 5.0-liter V10. The engine, rated at 500 hp and 383 lb-ft of torque, is officially out of a job now that BMW has ended production of the M6 coupe and convertible. M5 production ended in July. Both the M5 and M6 will be coming back, of course, but with a twin-turbo, D.I. V8.
BMW built 14,152 examples of the V10-powered M6 -- 9,087 of which were coupes and 5,065 M6 convertibles. The United States took the largest share: 3,528 M6 coupes and 3,247 M6 convertibles.
In tribute to the V10 we'll likely never see again in a series production car, we offer this blast from the past courtesy of IL Senior Editor Josh Jacquot right after he drove the M5 for the very first time back in 2006:
"From outside the car, the 5.0-liter V10's sound at idle is tinny and not at all pleasant. The harshness is the reverberation of high-energy exhaust pulses inside the long, stainless-steel manifolds. It's an ugly, abrasive sound uncommon in the world of production engines, where exhaust energy is almost always muffled by cast iron. It's also the sound of BMW's undiluted focus on performance...
"Rated at 500 hp at 7,750 rpm and 383 pound-feet of torque at 6,100 rpm, the aluminum engine has a unique power delivery and its combination of sound and thrust are entirely out of place in a sedan. There's no surge of torque when the throttles are opened like in any of the current sports car engines making similar power. Rather, there's a linear wave of thrust that crescendos with an intake shriek which sounds genuinely pissed at its 8,250-rpm redline."
famof3kids says:
09:58 AM, 09/ 7/10
So, "an ugly, abrasive sound uncommon in the world of production engines", is the "sound of BMW's undiluted focus on performance.."?
No surge of torque is due to the low torque rating of 383. The 3.5 V6 turbo from Ford almost has as much torque(350 @ 1,500 rpm) and doesn't have an ugly, abrasive sound, plus it cost tens of thousands less!
bimmerjay says:
11:00 AM, 09/ 7/10
The S85 will be sorely missed, it was an extraordinarily unique and special engine. IL is right, we probably won't see an engine this close to a Formula One powerplant in a sub-$100K production car again (much less a 4-door sedan). Hearing that V10 scream towards redline will make the hairs on your neck stand up. Few engines today have the visceral character of this one.
blueguydotcom says:
02:27 PM, 09/ 7/10
Fun, gorgeous sounding engine (nothing like those cheeseball turbos).
Too bad it was stuck in an overpriced Camry Solara twin.
jameswilliard says:
05:19 PM, 09/ 7/10
As the original owner of a 2000 BMW M5, which is still one of the best cars I have ever owned, I was anxious to trade up to the "new" V10 M5 assuming it would be everything that my current M5 was and more with its screaming, race bred V10, high-tech transmission, and adaptive suspension. I almost bought one without even driving it I was so sold on the car. I waited for the initial demand to die down a bit and in the meantime had the opportunity to drive a V10 M5 for several days and I have to say I don't think I have ever been so disappointed and let down with a car. In trying to push the technological envelope of the car, BMW ended taking one of the best road cars, which could double as a sport car or sedan depending on your mood and making it an extremely unpleasant everyday vehicle with its terrible and clunky SMG transmission and it's V10 that, while extremely high tech, sounded gritty and harsh and didn't come alive till very high up in the rev range which made it feel lackluster in road use. Also, I thought the EDC felt either too harsh or too soft. I ended up buying a E46 M3 with competition package as a replacement instead of the M5 because I dislike it so much. I guess what I am trying to say is that while some may mourn the loss of this supposedly great engine I am anxiously awaiting it's replacement and hope that BMW will bring back some of what made the 2000-2003 M5 such a great car rather than instill it with the technological overkill that made the last one such a disappointment.
blueguydotcom says:
12:12 AM, 09/ 8/10
@james, no BMW is going to go the opposite direction. The e39 M5 was a work of art. The F10 M5 will use BMW's banal turbos and the engine will lack the silky smoothness and the entertaining redlines. Instead, it'll have tons of torque and then around 5k RPMs the engine will totally run out of steam. The old E39 M5 had max torque beyond 6k RPM and that made for a fun engine.
actualsize says:
09:13 AM, 09/ 8/10
Hah! I guess the license plate I saw yesterday on an M6 was right, but not the way the driver of said BMW M6 intended: "AMG TKO"
kevm14 says:
08:09 PM, 09/ 8/10
I still don't get it. $40k to replace that engine while less than a 1/3rd of that cost gets you a replacement LS7 with the same HP and WAY more torque, and no more weight. Hell the LS9 costs only half as much...and they both sound way better.
For an alternative to the E39 M5 (off topic) may I recommend the first generation CTS-V? Its demons are tamable and the chassis is just as well dialed in, if not more so with the optional FG2 shocks.