[Grumpy Old Man]

A one-off straight-six from the E34 BMW M5 is reborn in this purpose-built drag weapon

Frequent Driving.ca visitors may have recently read about the BMW M1 Group B, which, in my round-up of unexpected rally cars, I called ‘arguably the most baffling motorsport campaign to ever bear the Bavarian badge.’

I’d like to thank the internet for immediately proving me wrong.

The below is a 2017 BMW M5-bodied drag car, an already mental prospect made all the more awesome by the M-division stripes plastered down the flanks.

It’s built by South African Bimmer specialist Budler Motorsport, and, interestingly, rather than opting for a tried, tested and well-established Toyota 2JZ or heavier-duty American V8, rocks a full balls-to-the-wall engine selected by team owner and namesake Boetie Budler.

The new powerplant came about by developing an engine from scratch, using the factory ‘S38’ straight-six found at the heart of an E34 M5 as its foundation.

Cloying as the phrase has become, this 219-cubic-inch beast truly is a one-off build, the block incorporating custom billet camshafts, new aftermarket rods and pistons, and a 98-mm Precision ProMod turbocharger among other mods, for lung-rattling grunt.

Absolute power has not yet been made public, but we’re guessing even the 3.8-litre E34’s 340 hp has gone up a smidge, as proven by the performance alone.

In its first major overseas campaign, the Budler Motorsports BMW was shipped more than 13,000 km to Maryland International Raceway for the Import vs Domestic: World Cup Finals. Fresh out the box, the M5 ran a 6.90-second quarter-mile at 202 mph (325 km/h). Which is pretty sprightly.

That wasn’t enough though for the Budler crew or fabricator-slash-driver Marius Oosthuizen, who promptly upped the boost to watch the times tumble through 6.78 seconds, then 6.76, 6.69, 6.53 and, finally, 6.515 seconds at 215 mph (around 346 km/h) in the car’s final run of the tournament.

If you’d like to hear how that sounds, headphones out, volume up, and apologise to your neighbours.

Impressively, despite achieving its 6.5-second objective, Budler Motorsports has claimed it will return to the US once the full limits of the engine are known.

[brad850csi]

That’s a weird looking 2017 M5 body!

It’s like a nascar body ‘styled’ like an e92 m3

[Questofthetune]

Originally Posted by brad850csi

That’s a weird looking 2017 M5 body!

It’s like a nascar body ‘styled’ like an e92 m3

Someone stepped on it the morning before

[Rav22]

Looks weird and great .. though

[FlaPatsFan]

It’s refreshing to see a true BMW drag car competing and putting down some impressive times!

Unfortunately no one thinks BMW when talking about drag racing. Maybe this will change a few minds.

[evanescent03]

Originally Posted by FlaPatsFan

It’s refreshing to see a true BMW drag car competing and putting down some impressive times!

Unfortunately no one thinks BMW when talking about drag racing. Maybe this will change a few minds.

Hard for me to think of BMW lookin at this car. There probably isn't much on there that's BMW any more lol.

[ASAP]

well I applaud the guy for using a BMW motor... the other so called fastest BMW used a 2JZ which was a joke at best