An E46 BMW M3 With A DCT-Equipped M5 V10 Is Predictably Brilliant

Ladies and gents - say hello to what might just be the best ever combination of BMW M parts we’ve ever seen. It’s the body of an E46 M3, under the bulge-tastic bonnet of which you’ll find an E60 M5’s V10.

But wait, there’s more! That 5.0-litre, naturally-aspirated monster sends its power rewards via an E92 M3‘s dual-clutch gearbox and a carbon fibre propshaft borrowed from an F82 M4. In its second appearance on YouTube channel AutoTopNL (the first one is embedded at the bottom of the page), we can hear this collection of M’s modern hits making an incredible noise, and making quick work of a 100-300kmh (62-186mph) pull.

The owner posted an overview on YouTube earlier in the year, detailing a whole heap of additional modifications. These include a rear seat delete, carbon fibre-backed Cobra seats and a couple more E9x M3 items - a flywheel (much lighter than the stock M5 part) and a performance exhaust system.

It’s a good job there’s now a tonne of space behind the front seats for luggage, as the boot space has taken a knock. In it are a fuel surge pump, an oil tank and the power steering pump.

Responsiveness thanks to the new flywheel and the carbon prop are is said to be very good indeed, and it chops through gears far faster than it would have done with the original, ponderous SMG robotised manual gearbox retained. Impressively, it’s not even that heavy despite the big bump in engine size, tipping the scales at 1430kg not accounting for fuel or a driver.

If it was us, we’d maybe lose the rear wing to make it more stealthy, although you’d only ever be a throttle prod away from revealing what this car really is, which is one of the finest E46s in existence.

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