Autoblog

The BMW 3-Series has always been impressive, with deft handling combined with some of the world's best powertrains. The newest 3 may have grown in size and weight, but new engines like the 335i's twin-turbo I6
and the upcoming M3's 400hp V8 help mitigate the car's added girth. Both engines deliver a zero-to-60 time of less than five seconds, but there's always room for more power power and speed. Hartge decided to drop an M5's V10 into its smaller sibling only after adding new heads and camshafts to kick up the power equation to 550hp. The end result is a blistering sleeper with a not-so-sleepy $220,000 price tag.

Inside Line got to take a crack at the Hartge speed demon, and as you'd guess, the car is spooky-fast. A 0-60 time of 4.4 seconds doesn't tell the whole story, as the 205mph speedo is actually grounded in reality. Hartge keeps the H50 bolted to the ground with a revised suspension that's lowered a full 1.2 inches and ultra-wide, sticky rubber wrapped around 20' rims. The driver gave this odd-looking Franken-Series a tremendous compliment, saying that the H50 has the "composure of a 6-Series with the speed of a Ferrari F430." That would mean more if the Hartge H50 didn't cost more than a F430 or two M6's, but the H50 buyer is unlikely to care, and there's not one among us who wouldn't like to grab seat time in this pavement missile. Hit the read link below or the image above to read Inside Line's H50 V10 adventure in its entirety.

[Source: Inside Line]