“The Power of the Legendary BMW M5 V10 Engine – Still Going Strong at 246,000 km”

It’s the brand’s last engine with real roots in Formula 1. Rumor has it that it won’t last long, but is that true? Judging by the experience of a person who converted one of the BMW M5 E60s to a manual transmission, it doesn’t look like that.

We wouldn’t find many car fans who would hate the idea of ​​owning an E60 generation BMW M5. But the rational half of their personality will howl in anguish and scream that this is just one big piece of nonsense. This car with a 5.0 V10 engine is high maintenance not only in general, but also among the similarly designed supersedans and super hatchbacks. It moves more at the level of super sports and can be really expensive.

Today, it is slowly becoming impossible to buy a piece with which the previous owners would drive decently, or one that would only drive from a dry garage to service and back. Similar ones no longer exist or no one will sell them to you. These cars usually drove a lot and fast, because their character encourages them to do so. And when they drive away, they head to the dealership with tempting prices but a daunting list of typical problems. A lot can go wrong, including the already famous connecting rod bearings, besides clutches, oil pumps, throttle motors, electronics…

Sreten Milisavljevic is not afraid of any of that and has been showing for years that he can keep older Bavarians fit at a reasonable cost. One of his beloved cars is the M5 E60 from 2007, which is interesting not only because he converted it to a manual transmission that is not available here (in the US or Canada but offered as standard), but also because it has really done a lot . You probably calculated the 16 years of existence yourself, but the number 246,665 km lights up on the car’s speedometer. That’s almost extreme for an M5 E60, but it still works like a charm, as you can see below.

The car starts easily on the highway at 285 km/h, but the most interesting thing comes on the “engine brake”. It’s almost disarming to consider that a car whose new five-liter ten-cylinder was supposed to give 507 horsepower in maximum power mode, but now measured 514.3 horsepower after taking into account the estimated transmission losses, ended up on the bench. However, this is a value that surpasses even a new car, but here we have the honor of a cheap 16-year-old used car with a very colorful history. See for yourself below, this car can last a long time with proper care. And by the way, those connecting rod bearings have already received new ones…

The BMW M5 E60 can win hearts mainly with its naturally aspirated 5.0 V10 engine. The latter can also be a source of problems and disappointments, the car in the video below with almost a quarter of a million km does not confirm the latter in the slightest. Illustration photo: BMW

Source: M539Restorations@Youtube

Petr Miler

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