The weird and wonderful
This stuff has been making the rounds among the BMW faithful. Good back story here in case you missed it.
BMW M8 (*not* pronounced “mate”):
X5 LM. Don’t scoff— this ain’t your ordinary soccer mom X5:
Proof:
And how perfect is it that it’s actually wearing BBS LMs?
In addition to the massive V12 this particular X5 benefited from tremendous weight savings through aluminum panels, lighter high-bloster seats, and use of carbon fiber. It is rumored that Herr Stuck managed a 7:49 time on the Nurburgring putting it 1 second faster than the M3 CSL and over 15 seconds faster than the E92 M3 (source).
“El Camino” E30:
What’s this? Oh, right:
E36 M3, er, Touring:
Which is a bit of a misnomer, because when you think BMW Tourings, you tend to think of these:
Or these— wait, what?
Hat tip to Brandon! Thanks m8 🙂
Motoring Con Brio 
I was wondering when you guys would cover this. Amazing place. It’s proof that heaven does exist.
Brandon: Richmond, VA said this on April 7, 2011 at 9:18 am
Those look a lot more like BBS Motorsports e28 wheels than LM’s. The face is very convex, and they can be had in magnesium. I love mine!
David said this on April 7, 2011 at 11:52 am
ah yes! you are probably correct. the wheels, are they on the 2002? we must see pics!
motoringconbrio said this on April 7, 2011 at 12:17 pm
Nope, on the M3. I would *love* a set of e76’s for the 2002 though! Let me know if anyone wants to donate a set… haha. I do have a set of 17×9 e26 Motorsports wheels I should be mounting up for this autocross season in the next few weeks.
Pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hammer03/sets/72157622462376348/
david said this on April 8, 2011 at 9:30 pm
nice e36! looking very proper.
motoringconbrio said this on April 8, 2011 at 9:39 pm
The thing that really blows me away with the X5 is how it has like absolutely no body roll, despite its high center of gravity. So nuts!
Automobiliac said this on April 7, 2011 at 12:52 pm
It must be hard to be an engineer at M and not be able to send a lot of the cars seen here to production! Disappointing that the X5 Le Mans wasn’t produced – kinda like the Audi R8 V12 TDI concept.
Murph said this on April 7, 2011 at 9:58 pm
here’s a question for you: are the modern day x5 m and x6 m watered down – but nonetheless spirtual – successors to the x5 lm that never was? in other words, the cars they were somehow able to get greenlighted about ten years later?
motoringconbrio said this on April 7, 2011 at 10:57 pm
The sound of that V12 is incredible!!!!
Perico said this on April 8, 2011 at 8:49 am
The red one is probably the M version of the E36 compact (e36/5), not a touring…
Debuk said this on April 8, 2011 at 2:22 pm
looks like you are correct! for some reason, i thought i had read it as e36 m3 touring, but upon second read, it does in fact say compact…
motoringconbrio said this on April 8, 2011 at 9:38 pm
It was badged as the 318ti, which may be where the “touring” idea came from.
David said this on April 20, 2011 at 6:58 pm
And from all outward appearances it could just be a clubsport, but it also looks like it has 4 exhaust tips out back… Interesting.
David said this on April 20, 2011 at 7:01 pm