Matt Farah Pushes 6-Speed E60 M5 Through the Mountains

By Tony Markovich - August 22, 2016

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A 2007 E60 BMW M5 might not be a rare bird, but a 2007 E60 BMW M5 with a six-speed manual transmission absolutely is. In this week’s “One-Take” episode of The Smoking Tire, Matt Farah heads up to the mountains on the Angeles Crest Highway, north of Los Angeles, with David and his clean whip.

In the typically awkward introduction and initial discussion about the car, David makes note that the engine on his M5 is completely untouched, but he has added sway bars in the front and the rear, and swapped in some CKS coilovers to bolster a suspension that he felt was a bit too soft.

A stock engine means this thing has the 500-horsepower, 5.0-liter V10 that redlines at about 8,200 RPMs. That’s great and all, but what makes this thing special is that the manual transmission was only offered in North America. So, if my research is correct, less than 1,500 of these things were sold. Like we said, rare.

Listen to the beefy exhaust and take in the commentary below, then let us know what you think.