The BMW E60 M5 is an iconic super sedan, and the wagon version, called the E61 M5 Touring, is its unicorn version. Unlike the sedan (at least in the North American market, which never got an M5 wagon to begin with), the M5 Touring was never offered with a manual transmission, and many people feel this otherwise near-perfect machine is held back by its SMG automated manual gearbox.
That’s exactly why the folks from Drivetribe decided to swap a manual into their M5 Touring with the help of UK-based Everything M3s. However, there’s one small issue with the project: there weren’t any E60 manual gearboxes available to them. For that reason, rather than sourcing the six-speed manual from a US-spec E60 M5, they actually took it from an E92 M3. The two transmissions are said to be nearly identical, with the only difference being slight variations in the gear ratios.
See Also: BMW E61 M5 Touring With A Six-Speed Manual Swap Is A Near Perfect Wagon
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In addition to physically installing the gearbox itself, performing the swap involved tweaking the electronics to communicate with the new transmission, as well as changing the starter motor to match the new flywheel’s teeth to the new clutch. Another addition made by Everything M3s, a purely optional one, was a new differential with shorter gear ratios for better acceleration.
Only 20 E61 M5 Tourings were ever built in this car’s color of Carbon Black, and only one other has received a manual conversion, which makes this car exceptionally rare. Unfortunately, they haven’t published their driving impressions, but we’d imagine a V10-powered, rear-wheel drive station wagon that you can row your own gears in would be a riot.