The Smoking Tire Drives a Bagged, V10-Powered 2008 BMW M5

The Smoking Tire’s Matt Farah experiences the unique V10 bark at warp speed.

If you watch this video for just one reason, let it be this E60 M5’s absolutely mind-bending exhaust note. Yeah, the S85 V10 always sounds good, but this particular example that Matt Farah of The Smoking Tire drives on a “One Take” encapsulates everything great about the engine. Firstly though, 500 horsepower (and then some, we’ll wager) has seldom sounded so urgent in a BMW.

But the main talking point for the car seems to be the AccuAir Management airbag suspension. Farah comments that it rides really well, particularly for a car being thrown around canyon roads in Southern California. The system adjusts from “Frame-Laying Street Cred Machine” to “Why Yes, I’d Like to Enter This Driveway, Thanks.” Farah drives it somewhere in the “Race Car Low” range and it seems to carve up the road quite well.

CHECK OUT: What Forum Members Are Saying About This M5

The M5’s nose stands out as a unique item, as well. The current owner, Anatoly, says the car’s previous owner grafted an F80 M3 nose on the existing 5-Series front. It looks pretty natural and gives a nice aggressive appearance to the oncoming E60.

The exhaust, of course, steals the show. Agency Power high-flow headers let the sound escape perfectly into a Meisterschaft system with secondary cat deletes. Agency Power mufflers with cabin-controlled valves mute the sound enough inside to make the cabin livable. Outside, however, the exhaust plays a horsepower symphony from the odd-firing V10. Eat your heart out, Berlioz; this is the new “Symphonie Fantastique.”

A tourist in a rental car nearly foils the canyon-road drive, of course. However, Farah sorts it out and takes a giggle-inducing blast down one of the short canyon straights. The V10 eats up the road quickly, even with a somewhat-dated semi-automatic transmission. Matt’s conversation with Anatoly isn’t always audible, even with the controlled cabin sound, but you can get the parts list on Anatoly’s WheelWell page for the specs.

What do you think of that V10 sound?