BMW M5 with McLaren F1 engine has been secretly stored for decades
- The mighty 6.1-liter V-12 engine belongs in the McLaren F1
- However, it had an unlikely prototype vehicle…
- The BMW M5
Published on May 30, 2024 at 3:34 PM (UTC+4)
by Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
Last updated on May 31, 2024 at 7:24 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Tom Wood
While the mighty 6.1-liter V-12 engine belongs in the McLaren F1, it had an unlikely prototype before it made its way to the supercar – the BMW M5.
The one-off BMW E34 M5 Touring wagon was built specifically for the Munich-based car manufacturer to test the powerful engine.
And BMW still has the unassuming 618-horsepower wagon in storage decades later in a secret stash of test vehicles.
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And it’s not the only secret car on their books with designs of the BMW i16 ‘secret supercar’ recently unveiled by a boss.
Former director of McLaren road and race cars from 1994-1998, David Clark, revealed the engine’s origin story several years ago on the Collecting Cars podcast.
He described it and its 479 pound-feet of torque as ‘outrageous’.
“When they tested the engine, it was in an M5 estate car,” exclaims Clark.
“I’ve driven it, it’s an outrageous thing.”


It’s thought to be one of BMW’s best-kept secrets as it’s never been revealed to the public – perhaps because the program wasn’t a huge financial success.
McLaren only built 106 cars to house the 350 engines BMW supplied.
Only 5 McLaren F1 LM cars were ever produced, and one big name bought 3 of them.
It was designed by automotive legend Gordon Murray to be lightweight, naturally aspirated, and seat the driver centrally in the cockpit.
Murray approached the late Paul Rosche, legendary engineer of BMW’s M division, to help build it.

Rosche’s final design was the BMW S70/2.
Murray also designed the unofficial successor to the McLaren F1.
The GMA T.50 was intended to be the greatest road car ever built.
With a manual gearbox-ed, the 650hp supercar is powered by a glorious-sounding Cosworth V12 engine.
It also weighs next to nothing at a total of 986kg and made its public debut at Goodwood in October 2021.
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All Supercar Blondie contributors undergo editorial review and fact-checking to ensure accuracy and authority in automotive journalism. After gaining her BA Hons in French and English at the University of Nottingham, Amelia embarked on a vocational diploma from the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ). This led to numerous opportunities, from interning at Vogue to being on the small team that launched Women’s Health magazine in the UK, which was named the PPA Consumer magazine of the year for three years running. As Health, Beauty and Fitness editor, Amelia personally received a Johnson & Johnson Award and was shortlisted for both PPA and BSME titles. Since then, Amelia has created content for numerous titles and brands, including the Telegraph, 111 Skin, Waitrose, Red magazine, Stylist, and Elle, as well as being Head of Content at Vitality and Editor in Chief at INLondon magazine. “My superpower is translating technical jargon about the mechanical workings of a supercar into a relatable story you’ll want to share with your friends after you’ve read it.” After joining the SB Media family as a senior journalist in September of 2023, Amelia’s role has evolved to see her heading up the SEO output of the editorial team. From researching the most ‘Google-able’ key terms to producing evergreen content - it’s been a time of hard work, growth, and success for the editorial team and the Supercar Blondie website. “I like to think of myself as a ‘method journalist’. In other words: I live and breathe whatever I am writing about. When writing about fitness, I trained as a personal trainer, and as a beauty editor, I completed an ‘expert’ in scent diploma with the Fragrance Foundation. “During my tenure at Supercar Blondie, however, I did something I never thought possible: I passed my driving test at the age of 36. One day I’d love to train as a mechanic to better understand what happens under the hood, too. “My sweet spot is providing readers with a ‘takeaway’ (read: something new they didn’t know before) after reading every one of my stories. While I don’t claim to be an expert in the automotive world, I know the experts and bodies in the field to rely on to provide our readers with an informative and thought-provoking story every time they visit the site.”