BMW Remembers Its Awesome X5 E53 Le Mans Prototype With A 700 HP V12

What is the BMW X5 Le Mans, you ask? Well, it is without a doubt the most incredible SUV the brand has ever produced and is the star of a new video from BMW Group Classic.

BMW took off the covers to the E53-based X5 Le Mans in March 2000 and while it never spawned a production model, it did manage to achieve some pretty impressive feats. Most notably, with racing driver Hans-Joachim Stuck behind the wheel it lapped the Nurburgring Nordschleife in just 7:42.253 and during this lap, hit a top speed of 311 km/h (193 mph).

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Providing the X5 Le Mans with such insane performance was a very special powertrain, namely BMW’s P75 engine that was used by the V12 LMR Le Mans prototype. When used in the endurance racer, the 6.1-liter was throttled down to around 580 hp with air restrictors, but by removing them and fitting a new exhaust system BMW was able to give the X5 Le Mans more than 700 hp.

In this insightful video, the presenters provide us with an overview of the hyper SUV and towards the end of the clip, actually start it up. To say it sounds great would be an understatement…