I've been looking to add an E38 Sporty Shorty to my fleet for a couple months now and the more samples I drive from the 2000-01 cohorts the more I get the sense that a small amount of the E60's DNA can be traced back to the E38 740i models. I don't know if its the torque converter or the way the throttle feels but there just seems to be something that reminds me of the E60 while I'm test driving these E38 sporty shorties.

I know the E38 was designed a decade before the E60, but I'm of the opinion that if you could splice together an E38 740i Sport and an E39 M5, what you would have would be awfully similar to the V8 powered E60.