TRANSMISSION
Automatic Sequential (7+1)
DRIVE
RWD
NUMBERS OF CYLINDERS
10 V-engine
ENGINE CAPACITY
4999 cm³
ENGINE POWER
507 HP
EMPTY WEIGHT
1730 kg
MAX SPEED
250 km/h
– I wanted factory condition and here it is.
Usually, you have an alternative and must choose: a comfortable, modern sedan, or a race car. They say you cannot have it all, but that is not true. You can, you must just buy a fourth-generation BMW M5.
The fourth-generation M5 was unveiled in 2005, and it was not long before the first drivers were able to experience, first-hand, just how wild and unbridled this car is. With 507 hp, the M5, which weighs in at around two tonnes, it becomes a real sports car. Under the bonnet is a 10-cylinder fork-cylinder engine, ready at any time to take you on a ride you will never forget.
The car takes 4.7 seconds to reach one hundred metres. The second hundred comes after 13.5 seconds. At 269 km/h we feel the limit. You cannot go any faster. Or rather: you are not allowed to drive faster. The development of higher speeds has been electronically blocked. If it were not for the factory interlock, the BMW would easily break the 300 km/h barrier.
The M5 E60 is the perfect car for long drives. It is dynamic, grips the road perfectly, and – in a critical situation – the extremely effective brakes and various safety systems come to the rescue. This is where the similarities with its predecessor (E39) end. The E60 is more spacious, more complex and far more modern. What seemed to be the pinnacle of engineering at the time of the E39’s debut, in 2005 turned out to be just a pre-dinner snack.
The sedan version of the E60 appeared in March 2003. The station wagon (traditionally named Touring) became available a year later. Regardless of the body and equipment version, the fifth generation ‘Five’ guaranteed almost cosmic comfort. The interior design, the materials used, the perfect ventilation system – one could enumerate the qualities of the E60 for an exceptionally long time. In addition, one of the car’s advantages on the second-hand market was its rapidly falling purchase price. The maintenance price, as befits a car of its kind, remained consistently high.
This unit, bought in Italy, came into the Collection in 2020, just after the E39 presented on other pages. Its 18000 km mileage and factory condition summed up to all that the buyer needed.
– I was looking for a specimen in its original condition, without any modifications. I wanted showroom condition and here it is. The wheels still have the factory tyres on. It drives and looks like a new car, but over the years I have only driven it once.
One wants to say: what a pity! The 507-hp, 10-cylinder engine invites you to get behind the wheel. But it is a well-known fact that collector cars have their own rules.
The phenomenon of this E60 lies in its history. It is probably the only case where a comfortable sports sedan bought for a lot of money has stood in a garage instead of tearing up the tarmac of the roads. And if not the only one, then certainly one of the very few.