Ever wonder which stock BMW M car has the fastest time around the ‘Ring? Wonder no more. Taken from the German auto publication Sport Auto, here are the fastest to the slowest as recorded by their famous test driver Horst von Saurma (M cars in bold).

– 7:50 BMW M3 CSL
– 7:50 BMW X5 E53 LM (M70 S70B56 engine from a V12 LMR w/700 bhp)
– 8:05 BMW M3 E92
– 8:07 BMW Z8 E52 (also listed at a more believable 8:18)
– 8:09 BMW M6 E63
– 8:10 BMW Alpina B6 S E63
– 8:13 BMW M5 E60
– 8:14 BMW Alpina B3 Biturbo Coupé E92
– 8:22 BMW M3 E46
– 8:22 BMW M Coupe E36/8
– 8:24 BMW X6 M E71
– 8:26 BMW 335i E92 Coupe
– 8:28 BMW M5 E39
– 8:32 BMW Z4 3.0si Coupe E86
– 8:32 BMW Z4 3.0i Coupe E86
– 8:32 BMW Z3 M Roadster E36/8
– 8:34 BMW Z3 3.0i E36/8
– 8:35 BMW M3 E36
– 8:35 MINI John Cooper Works R56
– 8:39 BMW 135i Coupe E82 (hard to believe but this is from Sport Auto)
– 8:54 BMW X6 xDrive50i E71
– 8:55 MINI Cooper S Works R53

Thoughts after the break…

A few things to note. The Alpina ‘s times are clearly impressive. The 6 Series based B6 is only a second off the pace of the V10 powered M6. Then there ‘s the B3 which is a full 12 seconds faster than the stock 335i.

Then there ‘s the 135i time – tied with the MINI JCW at 8:35. We actually don ‘t believe it but it ‘s from Sport Auto. Speaking of the JCW, check out the improvement from the R53 to the R56 – a full 20 seconds. That has to be the largest improvement ever from one generation to another.

Also worth noting is where the 1M is going to slot in. We ‘ve heard BMW expects it to be right at the 8:05 mark of the current M3 making it potentially the fastest BMW around ‘Ring since the E46 M3 CSL.

You can see other manufacturers times on the full list at Wikipedia