STRONG PERFORMANCE FROM A POWERFUL ENGINE: BMW M has built 20,000 of its V10 engine

"Engine of the Year" from the BMW M5 and M6 is much in demand.

Munich. It has been on the market for just two years and its output of 500 bhp
(SAE rating) already ensures outstanding performance figures for 20,000 BMW M5
and M6. A few days ago, the 20,000th specimen of the high-performance engine
was produced on the so-called Special Engine Line at the BMW plant in Munich.
Since the start of serial production in 2005, the V10 has won the
internationally renowned "International Engine of the Year" twice and also has
5 category wins in the 'International Engine of the Year' awards.

The engine boasts extraordinary qualities and specifications: after all, it was
based on the 10-cylinder BMW Formula 1 engine which was the most powerful
engine in the top discipline of motor racing until the rules were changed in
2006.

But the V10 of the BMW M5 and M6 not only has the same number of cylinders as
the racing engine, it also shares the same high-speed concept. This principle,
only mastered by a few automobile manufacturers, generates enormous thrust from
high engine speeds and is characteristic of all high-performance naturally
aspirated engines made by BMW M GmbH.

The technical specifications of this extraordinary engine: ten cylinders, a
capacity of five litres, an output of 373 kilowatts or 507 bhp, a maximum
torque of 520 Newton-metres and a maximum engine speed of 8250 rpm. Impressive
on paper, these figures really come alive in practice: the engine accelerates
the various BMW M models M5, M6 and M6 Convertible to 100 km/h in under 5
seconds.

For BMW M, the high-speed concept - more power from higher engine speeds - has
traditionally been the preferred strategy. However, the V10 engine moves into
an engine speed range which was previously regarded as out of the reach of
serial production engines due to the enormous stress to the materials.

At 8,000 crankshaft rotations per minute, each of the ten pistons travels
around 20 metres per second - almost as much as the pistons in a Formula 1
engine. But while long-term resilience is a relative factor in motor racing,
an M engine has to last for the whole lifetime of the automobile - in every
climate, in every road situation and with all driving styles.

The technical highlights of this engine, now celebrating an impressive landmark
in its production lifetime, include a torsionally stiff bedplate construction,
weight-optimised full slipper pistons, single-section cylinder heads made of
aluminium and the so-called cross-flow cooling concept which ensures an even
temperature throughout the cylinder head. This V10 M engine also has the
variable camshaft control system double VANOS, port throttles as in motor
racing and a system which - like a dry sump - always ensures a permanent oil
supply to the engine even at high levels of transverse acceleration.

Finally, the engine management system for the V10 high-performance engine was
developed by BMW M's own engineers - an area in which BMW M occupies a leading
position. The system's modern 32-bit processors can process over 200 million
individual operations per second: for each separate cylinder and firing cycle
they calculate ignition timing, charge, injection quantity and timing.

Photos of the BMW V10 engine are available at www.press.bmwgroup.com