The story behind the BMW X5 Le Mans Concept

Posted on 22-03-2016 at 23:03 by jaapiyo – 12 Comments”

The epic story about a victory at Le Mans and a thick SUV.

BMW is a brand with a rich racehistorie. Legendary cars like the 3.0 CSL ‘Batmobile’, the M1 Procar, the E30 M3 DTM, or the fire-breathing Brabham BT52 on the retinas of many autofanaat. Add to that all the victories in the various Touring Car championships that the world is rich and you are a little dizzy.

Yet in the year 1999 probably quite a bit of money can earn if you work for the Vingt-Quatre-Heures-du-Mans had used on BMW for the victory. After all, had, in 1998, the BMW V12 LM, the predecessor of the V12 LMR, still hopelessly failed in the French classic. The cars were both too slow and they did not come to the finish line. Also played in the background that BMW in the year 2000 it would return in the Formula 1. That deal was in 1998 all arranged by the team of Frank Williams. Because the knots work on that new project of prestige seemed to have the race in Le Mans is not the highest priority to have in Munich.

And then there were the other factory teams; Mercedes entered with the CLR, Toyota wrote three very GT-One’s in for the race and that dekselse rival from Ingolstadt came with the R8R. Not exactly the least competitors. As icing on the cake took Don Panoz also two roaring prototypes, at that time, certainly not slow duikelaars. The team BMW had a significant mountain to climb.

But, because the CLR’s apparently thought to be busy with a game of artistic gymnastics on the floor, were all the Mercs eventually withdrawn from the race. Two of the three Toyota’s in the hands of former Formula 1 drivers Martin Brundle and Thierry Boutsen crashed as a result of klapbanden. The Toyota’s were indeed very fast, but also had to frequently stop for new fuel than the similarly dynamic but also efficient BMW’s.

Moreover, it turned out the V12 LMR itself by a complete overhaul of the bodywork is significantly faster than its predecessor and remained the technique this time is very, very. Thus, among others the Bavarian brigade on Sunday morning even on a real one-two, before notoriously brokkenpiloot JJ Lehto soot in the food tossed by crashing with the number 17. With that buffer in the window from the crabs, it was still just carrots to sweat for the men and women with blue-and-white logos on their suits in the pit lane. But fortunately for them, knew the team Winkelhock-Martini-Dalmas the number 15, however, intact to the finish. So won BMW that day it’s Le Mans. The victory that is not necessarily expected, but who still came.

Although the V12 LMR, then one year is wagered in the American Le Mans Series’, was the title on the Circuit de la Sarthe is not defended. The focus was now finally on to perform in the circus Bernie. Perhaps partly because it had the V12 LMR in ALMS in terms of speed is now also difficult against the new Audi R8 LMP. At the end of the year the car was then also withdrawn, in the company of colorful family members, on the laurels to rest in BMW’s well-known ‘secret’ storage in Munich.

A fitting end to a beautiful history you might say, but wait, this article, however, went on a X5? Yes! Because, as the ‘mad scientists’ it is fitting for could the engineers of BMW not verkroppen that the beating heart that thumped under the arched hood of the V12 LMR has never really quite a might roar. According to the tradition flickered around the milleniumwisseling in the building of M GmbH at regular intervals a sinister light bulb, sometimes accompanied with a monstrous sound that the air vibrated. That proved to be the logical consequence of the preparation of the V12 engine transplant.

Two suitable candidates were found that were deemed the brute force of the S70 engine, which in slightly different form also in the tail of the McLaren F1 is, to curb. The first was the 8-series, BMW’s luxury GT, which was actually still a real M-variant earned above the 850 CSi. But that model, introduced in 1989, was already on its last legs. PR-moderately is a much better option was the then brand-new, u.s.-manufactured X5. For what we are complaining about high, model year, ondergemotoriseerde bejaardenbakken that poke fun at BMW’s brand values we did that in 1999, the first SUV of the brand. Times are changing.

The X5 could do so, some extra ‘street cred’ to use to convince people that it is still a real BMW was in heart and kidneys. So said, so done. The now 700 horsepower heart of the V12 LMR was behind the kidneys in the nose of the E53 is placed. With Hans-Joachim Stuck behind the wheel did the X5 for a round of ‘Ring all of a sudden in seven-minutes-and-forty-nine seconds. A super-SUV, so that nota bene járen before Victor us the D8/12 Peking-to-Paris SSUV showed.

Just like that D12 has the X5 Le Mans the production stage, unfortunately, never met. The fastest X5 of the first generation was finally the X5 4.8 is 360 hp. Barely more than half of the number of horses that the concept had. Of the two generations of X5 that followed was, however, an M-variant, but even that can’t match the power and sound of the ‘Le Mans’.

Gallery: BMW X5 Le Mans E53

”

“