Raise the hood and it becomes more amazing. There doesn't appear to be a whit of space left over, but the V10 is seated perfectly within the bay, as though placed there by M Technik GmbH. With the specially designed exhaust and recalibrated ECU, Hartge estimates this powerplant to make around 550 hp, give or take an equine unit. To get the power down, it's linked to a seven-speed SMG transmission with an M5 rear end and Hartge differential.
The interior is fitted with Hartge slotted aluminum sport pedals and a three-spoke, flat-bottom steering wheel fitted with controls, paddle shifters and copious carbon fiber. The MDrive button is absent and the shifters are of the type found on a 335i (pull for upshift, push for downshift). However, the transmission still responds enthusiastically under hard use. The center console is endowed with the SMG shifter knob, along with the M5's Power and Drivelogic buttons, the former unleashing the V10's full potential, the latter adjusting the brevity of gearchanges on the sequential transmission. The 3 Series dash doesn't allow for easy integration of the M5's heads-up display, but Hartge has remedied the issue with a 'third hump' digital indicator showing what gear you're in, the Drivelogic shift program, and engine temperature via water or oil. As with the driveline, the integration of select M5 elements and Hartge trim with the basic 3 Series platform is masterful, but you might not believe it until you actually sit in the car. It's as tight and solid as a factory one-off.
On track, it's pure exhilaration tempered with frustration and just a pinch of terror. The massive power potential lurks eternally in the rearview mirror like a carnivorous specter, ready to bite you in the ass, but the car itself is so well screwed together and the chassis so balanced that it's amazingly docile at low speeds.
However, the H50 is, in all honesty, too powerful for a tight, winding track like the Streets at Willow, where we've brought it out to play. There's one long uphill section where you can really bury the throttle; in an ordinary car you can easily kiss 100 mph up the straight. In the H50, I found myself tickling 130. Carry too much speed into the first turn and you might accidentally find yourself in the Pacific Ocean. Rebound- and compression-adjustable coilovers link the chassis to the wheels, 20-inch Hartge Classic 3s wrapped in Continental SportContact 3 tires. So it's confident in the corners-only when the throttle is rolled into heedlessly is there a risk of upsetting the equilibrium.
At the limit, though, with traction control switched off, the car isn't easy to predict at all. At least not after 45 minutes of trepidatious track driving and a few donuts on a flat asphalt surface. Back on the skidpad, we go through two other drivers, one of them a paid professional, to try and get the sideways drift shot photographer Reichart requires. It never quite happens. The rear end wants to jump out and the car will burn through tires all day, but the edge of that magic point of no return remains as elusive as the car itself. If it were my money, I'd need a wide-open track with plenty of harmless runoff to even begin to get comfortable approaching the Hartge H50's ragged edge. But there are lots of tires and Conti is hard at work making more. Time for some more donuts.