There aren’t that many V10-powered vehicles on the streets and every time we can witness a V10 car, it’s a reason to celebrate. One of the best examples of a sports car with a 10-cylinder engine has to be the E63 generation of the BMW M6 – a car that shares its hardware with the M5 E60. Yes, for those living outside the United States, both the M6 and M5 were sold only with the polarizing SMG-III automated manual gearbox but that didn’t ruin the fun at all.
The video you see at the top of this page comes from AutoTopNL. These guys are professional Autobahn drivers – if such a thing exists – and know quite well which sections of the German highway have no speed limits. The footage takes us onboard a BMW M6 from the E63 generation – but it’s not a stock example.
We don’t know all the modifications that have been done to the Bavarian coupe but we know for a fact it has a tweaked exhaust system with straight pipe tuning. This means slightly more power and a more sonorous exhaust note. You can hear it even from the inside and we have to admit this is probably one of the best-sounding cars we’ve heard lately.
The acceleration is equally impressive. Speeds of about 124 miles per hour (200 kilometers per hour) and above are an easy job for the speedy coupe and even reaching almost 186 mph (300 kph) seems almost effortless. The engine temperature gauge stays frozen during the entire run and the only thing that looks a little worrying is the rate at which the fuel runs out.
This shouldn’t be a surprise, however. The 5.0-liter V10 engine under the hood has never been designed for efficiency. Instead, the S85 mill offers high-performance levels with up to 500 horsepower (373 kilowatts) available with the more powerful P500 engine mode. From the factory, the top speed was electronically limited to 155 mph (250 kph) or 190 mph (305 kph) with the optional M-driver's package. This particular vehicle either had that package fitted or was modified with a removed speed limiter.
