Do you know how every car -enthusiast has this one car that he didn’t buy? For me, this car could only be the six-speed manual F10 BMW M5. I had the chance to drive the legendary Laguna Seca in 2012, and this memory is still shaped in my head. If you have never dealt with this F10 M5, you may be missing one of the best secrets of BMW M.
Let me explain.
This car came at a strange time in the history of BMW M. It followed the high-rotating, F1-sounding E60 M5 with its screaming V10 and a single clutch SMG. This car was wild – but also spirited and a kind of pain you could live with. Then came the F10: bigger, quieter, turbocharged. On the surface it seemed as if BMW had become soft. A turbo engine?! Blasphemy called the community.
Six -speed manual, 560 hp
But if you were one of the few in the USA, you could specify it with a manual transmission. And not any manual. A real six-speed, which was equipped with a 4.4-liter V8 with two turbochargers and 560 hp and 500 LB-FT torque, downhill all on the rear wheels. No XDrive, no traction safety net. Only you, the street and a drive train that chews happily through tires if you don’t be careful.
It was the last M5 with a manual. Always. And BMW only sold 577 of them in North America. This is not only rare – this is a unicorn area.
A unique driving experience
To drive one … an experience. It’s not perfect. The gear ratios are long and it is not as sharp as a smaller M car. But damn it feels alive. They work all the time – run away, to manage boost, keep it straight – and that is fun. It is the type of car that punishes lazy entries and rewarded precision. No filters, no pretext. Only raw muscles in the suit of a gentleman.
I will be honest, such cars will no longer be done. Everything is all -wheel drive, automatic, hybridized or on the way to full Ev. And yes, the new M5 is technically better in almost every measurable way. But it is not necessarily more fun – not in the same way. The F10 M5 manual is the last stand. It is imperfect, a little dangerous and all the more lovable.
If you have ever dreamed of owning a real, analogous M car with great strength and even greater personality, this is the one. Just don’t wait too long. Because as soon as people touch themselves, the secret is – and they won’t remain affordable forever.
