There are several BMW E34s with BMW V12 Swaps. This one has an incredibly rare S70B56 Powered V12 from a BMW 850i
There are some of us out there for which a BMW E34 M5 with an S38B38 is just not enough. The owner of this car is one such individual.
Starting with a 1992 European BMW M5 chassis as a base, the owner installed a BMW V12 engine into the vehicle. However, they did not install any ‘run-of-the-mill’ regular M70B50 V12 engine, but rather the S70B56, a larger,higher-performance version of the M70B50 engine.
The BMW S70B56
The S70 was a version of the M70 V12 engine that made by BMW’s famed M-division. It was fitted to performance flagship models, as well as dedicated performance cars. There were two production generations.
The S70B56 is a 5,576 cc or 340 cubic inch high performance variant that powered the 1992 through 1996 E31 850CSI. It produced 380 horsepower at 5300 rpm and had 410 pound feet of torque. By contrast, the M70B50 is a 304 cubic inch V12 engine producing 300 horsepower at 5200 rpm and 330 pound-feet of torque.
There was quite a significant difference in performance compared to the stock M70B50 engine, 70 horses to be exact. It was paired with a ZF 4HP24 automatic transmission or the optional Getrag 560G manual transmission. With 1,510 units produced, it is the lowest production BMW engine to date.
The BMW S70/2
The second generation S70 is quite an improvement over the first generation S70 engine. It features 4 valves per cylinder and variable valve time or dual VANOS. It was significantly more powerful over the first-gen S70B56 putting out 618 horsepower at 7400 rpm and 480 pound-feet of torque. However, this engine was significantly more exotic powering the legendary McLaren F1 built from 1993 to 1998. It also powered BMW Le Mans racers such as the 1998-1999 BMW V12 LM and 1999-2000 BMW V12 LMR.
This BMW M5 does not have the S70/2. It has the BMW S70B56 making it quite a unique vehicle, nonetheless. In fact, I would go about calling it a unicorn.
BMW created a one-off X5 powered by the S70/2. However, the Le Mans X5 puts out 700 horsepower. I have linked to a video of this beast so you can get an idea of the power this thing puts out.
BMW e34 M5 S70B56 V12
The BMW E34 M5 is the last of the hand-built M-sedans. The vehicle profiled here has the S70B56 engine and matching transmission from a BMW 850CSI. Other vehicle systems such as brakes and suspension were upgraded to handle the additional power.
There are custom fabricated parts on this build as well. The driveline was hand-built by Brett Anderson from Koala Motorsport, itself a reputable shop. The car currently has less than 80,000 miles.
While the mechanicals sound to be in excellent shape, the seller discloses that there is wear on the paint that is consistent with a car this age.
Overall, this is an amazing vehicle made up of some of the best of what BMW has ever made. This is screaming deal at $16,500.
Source: Craigslist
