If you want to buy a manual M5 in the US, your options are limited, but not terrible. At least we got the F10 M5 with a manual transmission And E60 M5. Most of the rest of the world was cheated out of both. And you can always go retro; You can certainly assume that the M5 are the best only came in the manual. But if you’re in the US and looking for a manual M5 wagon, you might as well build one yourself. And if you do that, why use anything less than the biggest, baddest engine ever put into a full-size sedan, the 5.0-liter S85 V10?
V10 manual vs. hybrid drive
The car we’re talking about was sold on online auction site Bring a Trailer earlier this week. Ultimately, it cost the buyer $72,975 around but just over half of what a new M5 costs. This car starts at $125,175 after destination charges and gas guzzler tax. Anyway, the E61 M5 Touring sold on BaT started life as a 535i station wagon. However, after a thorough and expensive rebuild by a workshop in Connecticut, it has genuine M5 running gear. And while the M5’s aesthetic upgrades are nice, like quad exhaust pipes and fender vents, true beauty is more than just skin deep.
The 5.0-liter V10 engine under the hood produces 503 horsepower and 383 pound-feet of torque. This one might fetch a little more since the seller mentioned a tune on the car. But the associated six-speed manual transmission is probably far more important. None of this SMG nonsense, thank you very much. When you take into account the fact that this converted M5 is rear-wheel drive, you end up with a car that just has the same badge as the modern M5 and little else. By comparison, the modern M5 Touring uses a twin-turbo V8 and battery to deliver 717 horsepower and 737 pound-feet of torque. All-wheel drive and an automatic transmission are all you get.
Half the price, half the torque…
We hope you weren’t expecting any commentary about weight here. What’s interesting, however, is that despite operating with about half the torque of the G99 M5 Touring, the E60 M5 managed 0-60 mph in just 4.1 seconds. It happened quickly because everyone got out on time, and today it’s still pretty damn impressive. Case in point: The G99 M5 Touring claims 0-60 mph acceleration in about 3.5 seconds.
What we’re left with is an M5 that costs about half as much as the new one. Adds about half a second to zero to 60 time and powers half the wheels. But somehow we doubt that the “half” feeling can be transferred to the driving experience. Whether it’s the theatrics of the glorious power plant or the satisfying shifts thanks to the unique ZF manual transmission, we think this M5 Touring was an exceptionally good buy at half the price. Further videos and information about the car can be found at the auction link.
Auction Link: Bring a trailer
