Derived from BMW’s Formula 1 powerplant, the V10 shares the racing engine’s love of revs with red line coming in at a lofty 8250rpm. Peak power is 507hp (373kW) and maximum torque is 520Nm, which is enough for a 0-100km/h dash in under five seconds when residing in the potent M cars.
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. It’s little surprise then that the engine features such as the 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.