Oldish E46 BMW M3 Flaunts V10 on Autobahn, Tilts Speedometer Needle to 186 MPH

Read this carefully: a BMW M3 with a V10 engine. And a DCT (dual-clutch transmission). It’s not the figment of a virtual artist’s imagination, as it happened in the real world. And we have the huge-mileage proof, courtesy of the good folks over at the AutoTopNL channel on YouTube.

Always in the search of the next automotive gem to have it prove its mettle on the no-speed limit sections of the German Autobahn, they somehow stumbled upon this black and rather old-looking E46 BMW M3. Located in the middle of the M3 generational count, it was powered from the factory by a 3.2-liter inline-six engine. The same number of cylinders as today’s G80, but even more displacement.

But that didn’t seem enough for someone. So, aside from a racing-inspired high rear wing, this particular M3 example also sports an engine swap. As such, even though its odometer already reads close to 186k miles (300,000 km), it proudly ditches any semblance of elegance to hit those exact velocity numbers on the highway.

As always, there’s a ridiculously small technical card shown at the start of the video (embedded below). There, we find out we are dealing with a 5.0-liter naturally aspirated V10 swap that bestows some 500 horsepower (507 ps) upon the lightweight E46. It’s about the same amount of power as a current M3 Competition... but splashed on a high-mileage car that’s around 15 to 20 years old!

And of course, the guys waste no time (save for the traditional beauty shots) in testing its mettle. As such, we also watch a couple of 100 to 300 kph accelerations that showcase this M3 looks entirely capable of tilting the speedometer needle toward the end of the scale, almost touching on the fabled 186 mph/300 kph benchmark!