A few years ago, we wrote here at Boosted about Volkswagen's secret W10 project with a BMW E39 M5. Now the car has been given license plates. In Slovakia, of all places.
Former Volkswagen boss Ferdinand Piëch's secret project, which involved a W10 engine between the front wheels of a BMW E39 M5, has now been given license plates.
How this was possible, we cannot say. But at least the car is registered in Slovakia.
The core of the project was the replacement of the original 4.9-liter V8 engine in the BMW with a W10 engine developed in-house at Volkswagen. Piëch insisted that such a project, which he had previously had to scrap at Porsche, be realized.
Over time, Volkswagen has developed several W engines, which differ from the more common V engines.
Among the most notable is the W8 engine, which found its way into something as mundane as the Volkswagen Passat.
The BMW with W10 engine is finally in Slovakia
The bigger sister Volkswagen Phaeton, along with similar Bentley models, got a W12 engine, and the revived Bugatti got a W16 engine.
Ferdinand Piëch was a driving force behind the development of all W engines in the VW Group. And although the W10 engine was never put into series production, it was in development.
Since there was reportedly a lack of a suitable platform within Volkswagen's own model range in which the new engine could be tested, Piëch gave the green light to the purchase of a BMW M5 (E39 generation).
In that car, the standard 4.9-liter V8 engine with 400 horsepower was removed. In its place, the experimental W10 engine, which is said to have around 500 horsepower, was installed.
According to several sources, the car was used by Ferdinand Piëch himself. It was only years after VW came up with the idea of the 10 cylinders that BMW took the technology seriously.
However, it 'only' became a V10 engine in the subsequent E6x generation of the M5. However, that engine was inspired by the Germans' work in Formula 1.
The rebuilt E39 M5 served as an important test platform for the W10 technology, and the lessons learned are believed to have been important for the further development that ultimately led to the W16 engine in the Bugatti Veyron.
Because only one copy of this car was produced, it has been surrounded by a certain mystery, and its actual existence has been much doubted since the story first surfaced several years ago.
The special BMW M5 is now owned by a car collector in Slovakia. The owner gave Drive Tribe the opportunity to test drive the car. And not only that. The film crew was allowed to explore the man's extremely unique collection of engines from the VW Group.
The current owner also has another W10 engine built by Volkswagen. That engine is stored separately and, according to the owner, has never been installed in a car. The collector's garage also houses a W8 and a W12 engine.
