If your goal is to buy a manual M5 in the U.S., your options are limited, but not terrible. After all, we got the manual-equipped F10 M5 and E60 M5. Most of the rest of the world was cheated out of both. And you can always go retro; certainly a case can be made that the best M5s only came in manual. But if you’re in the U.S. and looking for a manual M5 wagon, well…you might as well build one yourself. And if you’re doing that, why use anything less than the biggest and baddest motor ever shoehorned into an executive sedan, the 5.0-liter S85 V10 engine?
V10 Manual vs. Hybrid Power
The car we’re talking about sold on online auction site Bring a Trailer earlier this week. Ultimately, it cost the buyer $72,975, which is around but slightly more than half what a new M5 will set you back. That car starts at $125,175 after destination fees and the gas guzzler tax. Anyway, the E61 M5 Touring sold on BaT started life as a 535i wagon. After a thorough and costly conversion performed by a shop in Connecticut, though, it dons true M5 running gear. And while the M5’s aesthetic improvements are nice, like quad exhaust tips and fender vents, real beauty is more than skin deep.
The 5.0-liter V10 engine under the hood is good for 503 horsepower and 383 pound-feet of torque. This one might make a little more, as the seller mentioned a tune on the car. But arguably far more important is the six-speed manual transmission it connects with. None of that SMG nonsense here, thank you very much. Factor in the fact that this converted M5 is rear-wheel drive, and you end up with a car that shares a badge and little else with the modern M5. The modern M5 Touring, by comparison, 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 a comment about weight here. It is interesting, though, that despite working with around half the torque of the G99 M5 Touring, the E60 M5 managed to put down a 0-60 mph time of just 4.1 seconds. That was fast as all get out in-period, and today it’s still damn impressive. Case in point: the G99 M5 Touring touts a 0-60 mph time around 3.5 seconds.
What we’re left with, then, is an M5 that costs around half what the new one does. Adds around half a second to the zero to 60 time, and powers half the wheels. But somehow, we doubt that “half-off” feel translates to the driving experience. Whether it’s the histrionics from the glorious power plant or the satisfying shifts courtesy of the unique ZF manual box, we think this half-priced M5 Touring was exceptionally well-bought. You can check out the auction link for additional videos and info about the car.
Auction link: Bring a Trailer
