The S62B50 engine as used in the E39 BMW M5 is designed for some pretty heavy use. One of the features the crazy guys over at the ///M Division put into this engine to make sure it can last longer during a good thrashing is a pair of oil scavenge pumps and a pair of control solenoids.
The main function for these is to keep oil going to the right places under heavy cornering. Most engines unless they have a baffled sump will tend to have the engine oil slosh to one side under heavy cornering. Some cars (including the BMW V8s) also suffer from oil building up in the heads and unable to drain. This means disaster if it causes the oil pickup in the sump to draw in air instead of oil. Its a very quick way to running a bearing.
A solenoid will activate at over 0.9G of cornering force, allowing the scavenge pump for that side to draw oil from the engine head and return to quickly to the sump. This helps to keep the rear of the sump topped up with oil and keep the oil pickup submerged.
Just goes to show how far the ///M Division went in order to make this engine special and make the E39 M5 the beast that it is.
