This Manual-Swapped BMW M5 With YouTube Fame Could Be Yours

Officially, the E61 BMW M5 Touring never came with a manual gearbox. The Touring was exclusive to Europe, where the car was only ever offered with an SMG semi-automatic transmission. Three pedals, meanwhile, were only ever an option in North America, where the car was only available in E60 saloon form.

That hasn’t stopped some enterprising folk from combining these two ultra-desirable, mutually exclusive options into a sort of holy grail of BMW’s fourth-generation M5, however. Now, the opportunity to own one such car has arisen, and it even comes with a bit of celebrity provenance.

The E60 and E61 generation M5 is best remembered for its powertrain - under the bonnet was a 5.0-litre V10 that made 500bhp and revved out to above 8000rpm. In Touring form, it would crack 0-62mph in 4.8 seconds, and with the 155mph limiter removed, it was good for a quoted 189mph.

Unfortunately, this generation of M5 also has a bit of a reputation these days for having a fragile powertrain, with lots of well-documented issues. That probably shouldn’t put you off this one, though.

This is the M5 Touring formerly owned by YouTube channel Drivetribe, which picked it up in early 2022 as a project. One of just 20 Tourings ever to leave the factory in Carbon Black, it was given an overhaul in a video series fronted by Drivetribe’s YouTube figurehead and Car Throttle alumnus Mike Fernie.

The process included giving the car a full checkover with a BMW specialist, which addressed a number of common issues with this era of M5. It was fitted with uprated rod bearings and new throttle actuators, among other things. It was also treated to a front-end respray and a full paint protection film.

By far the biggest change, though, was the swapping out of the clunky SMG gearbox for a six-speed manual taken from an E92 M3. This work was carried out by Everything M3s, which has garnered attention for a similar conversion they offer for the E46 M3 CSL.

During its time with the channel, the car was driven by Richard Hammond and ex-Stig Ben Collins and given a thorough going-over by James May. It was also taken to the Nürburgring and the Isle of Man.

Clearly, it’s seen some life, with the odometer currently sitting at 107,725 miles. The ad is also upfront in noting that the M5 was subject to a Category N write-off in 2018. As Mike explains in the first video with the car, this was the result of a teeny-tiny fire started in the boot by a faulty battery. It did no mechanical, structural or external damage, but did burn the rare and expensive optional Alcantara headlining, which is what caused the write-off.

Even with that in mind, there’s video evidence to show that this is a well-maintained example of a unicorn of a car. It’s being auctioned through Car & Classic, with pre-bids open now and the auction officially kicking off on 25 February. Any V10 M5 purchase inherently carries a bit of risk, but there aren’t many other opportunities to get hold of a spec of M5 that, if it wasn’t for intrepid specialists, would never have existed.