We've bought a cheap (and incredibly rare) 500hp V10 estate car! 

PLEASE, do not change the colour! It looks majestic in that dark blue. A wrap wouldn’t make it look as nice and as mint as the original colour.

I think you'd be mad to change the colour, it's a limited edition of 20 fgs. Just make the car as mint as possible, tune it up a little and maybe change the seats. Job done :)

As soon as I read “V10 estate” I said to myself…that’s to to be a bimmer hasn’t it. What an incredible machine these things are.

Keep the colour! It’s rare, it’s in great condition and it looks stunning! Give it a FULL detail, ceramic wrap and all and it will 100% change your mind. New tires to update the driving dynamics as well as a subtle lip kit all round would make it insanely menacing, which is what this car is all about. Love it, love it, LOVE IT 😍

Don't change the car. It's great the way it is. Tune it up, make sure the kinks are out of it and away you go.

PLEASE don't change the colour it looks absolutely amazing like that.

Keep the colour as is, it's way cooler than any wrap to have a one of 20 car. Change the exhaust, manual gearbox swap it (like the one in supercar driver's recent video)

As an American with an E61 looking to complete this swap, I would love to have an underbody photo/video shot by the transmission tunnel to see if BMW designed a different floor pan for the AWD models or simply made a specific transmission bracket and left a giant gaping hole where the transfer case would be sitting.

Definitely keep that color, changing it would be just crazy. Also, I know it's highly unlikely, but I bet Sreten from M539Restorations would love to get to see it at the very least. He's that crazy guy disassembling BMW engines on his channel that just finished rebuilding Alpina B7 V10 engine, maybe having him on would be interesting.

You'd be crazy to change that color! It looks amazing.

The color is phenomenal on that car. Don’t bother changing it up. Definitely add an exhaust if you were looking for something to do with it, or maybe some different rims. Other than that the car is perfect.

I like the luxury soft closing doors. I just realized after 6 months of ownership of an old beaten Chrysler Grand Voyager that I have it too on the rear doors 😁

Don't change the colour imo, take it to a detailer and have a proper inside and out detail/machine polish and ceramic coat

Don’t change the colour. It’s a rare colour, leave it be! Get it detailed and protected properly with either ceramic coating or PPF. Get that burnt wiring checked out, just in case. A subtle modification I think would look nice is those headlights. Update the angel eyes to cool white instead of warm white and potentially change the amber eyebrow to white too. It’s one thing that irks me about the E60/61 headlights. A custom exhaust would be nice too, see M539’s channel for what it can deliver from that glorious V10. These cars can be modified with Carly, too. You might be able to turn off the bolsters while in M mode. It sounds daft but a fuel economy run would be interesting on this. I think you can dial this engine down to 200bhp if you fiddle with idrive for 6 hours. Car Throttle did an RX8 economy test, perhaps something similar with and without M mode could be a relatively easy video to film.

The idea behind the slow racks for fast BMWs was that if you're on the Autobahn going fast, you don't want twitchy steering. This was applied to saloon BMWs all the way back to at least the e34 (in my experience)

Keep the color.....NO way I would change that knowing only 20 of them are out there...and it's gorgeous!!

My dad knows someone who used to own one of these. He's a senior partner in a law firm in Manchester and at the time was on £30k a month. He got rid of the M5 because it was "too expensive to run".

Keep the color, it makes the car more unique and to be honest I think it’s a better look than the other options

Love the color. Maintenance, exhaust, headers, intake. Unlock ALL the sound.

The colour is brilliant! You don't need to wrap it! However, you definitely need to wrap something in that Irish green - maybe James' Tesla 👀

Keep the factory color , it needs a performance exhaust more!

Amazing purchase Mike…I give it two months before it throws you a four-figure bill 😅

That car should be understated. Don't change the colour, add spoilers, splitters, naff wheels etc etc. Love it as it is! I looked at an m5 estate myself but couldn't bring myself to do it due to their age and fear of repair and running costs and, believe it or not, I wanted something bigger. So there is just a bit of jealousy here! I will enjoy watching your journey.

Thanks for reminding me how aspirational the late 2000s were. V10, alcantara headliner, soft-close doors, actuated manual transmission… in a wagon!

The original colour suits the supercar sleeper status of the M5

What a car, and also what a colour. Keep it as it is Mike, you'd be mad to change it. Performance exhaust and intake system next.

Perfect specs for me except for the gearbox. I would have take a manual one but they are very very rare. The color is just perfect. I love it. Excellent choice!

It's awesome to see this car in the channel, thanks guys !! But pleaase don't change the colour !

My mate had one of these in that colour from new, running costs were higher than his track GT3 RS lol

"The engine is fragile..." so perfectly described the BWM V10. If you have more than a minor issue with it, the car will be financially written off again.

As an e60 535d owner I’m so happy to see this on the channel🙏🏻

Stick it in a museum. Beautiful and amazing piece of tech that it is... sorry to say it belongs in the past

Leave it the stock colour, it looks awesome and is 1 of 20.

Keep that carbon Black colour, I have the same on my 3 series and it really does separate it from the rest! Although I never knew how blue it does look, might need to get some polish on😂

KEEP THE COLOR PLEASE. Such a stunning car

When these were new, and I was still living with my parents, our neighbor next door used to work at a BMW dealership in my town here in Norway. He came home with one of these, blue(don't know if it was this exact color, but it looks like it). It was a showroom car. Me and my buddy were in awe of seeing a new M5 Estate. It wasn't until years later I learned that they were super rare.

Drivetribe 2 weeks later "I'm never going to financially recover from this".

That engine bay is clean it looks brand new

Godlike color, don't change it!

You guys actually bought one of my dream cars its great i love it great choice 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

Leave the colour alone, check the engine over and look at manual swaps

"this car has an incredibly rare colour"... let's repaint it 😂

My dad had a brand new saloon version of this in 2005. Epic car and properly quick

I suppose there may be an issue with the active steering. Replacing the control unit and the gearbox might cure that issue along with steering calibration using ista or whatever.

To me, "Estate" varients of regular hatch or sedan cars are super cool... Especially performance versions! Great video per usual.

Mike, I bet my shell suit that you’d regret a colour change. Focus on getting the mechanicals right, the steering and the suspension- these cars are noted from how they drive rather than the colour of their dodgy wraps. A few track days, road trips, Nurburgring and a couple of drags with newer competition… fuel economy challenge (can you get to two digit economy). See that’s all sorted then!

As I own one of these, I can assure you a warning light will be shortly forthcoming.

The original colour is so much better than either of the wrap colours IMO. What a special engine, I hope it is all ship shape.

Awesome, love fast wagons! Definitely following the journey of this project!

Love it as it is - detail, paint correct, PPF & ceramic coat... will look mint! If you have to change it, go for the blue, but don’t - please! If you’re ever going to have a V engined car, now is the time, before the electro heads take over the world and that fabulous noise is consigned to history. Very jealous!

STUNNING! Please please please don’t change anything.

Brave man, great car when it's working. Enjoy!!

There is a specialist out in the UK now that converts them to manual boxes. You should 100% do that

Leave the colour, that’s what separates it from others. I’d say get the steering sorted, maybe lighten it, fit louder exhausts, tinted windows, tech upgrade inside, wind deflectors on the windows, etc

Amazing purchase well done. Get rod bearings done, Eventuri intakes, swap the resonator for an x-pipe, backbox delete stick it in manual S5 and have the best driving experience for under 6 figures!!

You’re mad wanting to change the colour! Carbon black looks amazing, such a classy colour.

Great episode and a beautiful car. Have fun with it but DON'T change the color. If you do, disassemble it and get every single bit of dark blue changed. Hard to do and most don't go to the trouble.

Mike is right, that's blue. I'm going to start telling people my car is British racing green (it's gold). I wish estate cars (station wagons to us) would come back to the states.

Don't change the color. On top of being what makes this one so special, its absolutely beautiful.

Mike, Curt here from across the pond. This might sound a bit wacky or you might have heard this before. Order you some Cerma treatment from the states. It is treatment that basically invented by NASA for their crawler. The big machine that carries the shuttle to the launch pad. Long story short, you pour the liquid ( 2 ounces) into the engine. Then drive it like normal till the next oil change. A chemical process takes place on all the friction surfaces inside the engine. It will all but make the engine better than new. Granted it won’t fix anything broken, but it will keep any area that experiences friction better than new. It might sound like snake oil , but it’s actually proven tech. I’ve used it all my vehicles, and relative’s vehicles. Zero issues with any of our vehicles. They even make a treatment for the transmission, and Vanos system. Give them a look on the internet. You can even call them on the phone. A great bunch guys and ladies that work there. The owner is a brilliant engineer himself. Just food for thought. Let me know if you have any questions. I can help anyway I can. Cheers!

As long as it gets the rod bearings done and you let the oil warm up and circulate a bit before driving, that’s a pretty solid engine. Color is perfect too. Paint correction, ppf and ceramic coating and it’ll look spectacular 👌🏻

"the era of the high end performance estate car is gone..." RS6 pulls up to Drive Tribe headquarters "you sure about that sir?"

Two of life’s greatest gifts in one video - V10 M5 and The Prodigy 😊

Congratulations on the new car!! Love it!!

Love it and I wish you luck. I've had mine for nearly a decade and it is miserable/amazing simultaneously.

“There is nothing cooler than a performance estate” - Brings a smile to an Alfa 159 Sportwagon owner 😀 You would be mad to wrap it. #nowrap

Get a booster seat so you can see over the wheel before you go changing the color. You might like it, once you can see the hood while driving.

Keep her color, it's such a beautiful dark, neutral color & looks amazing with rain drops on it! SO happy you have a new estate for the DRIVETRIBE...the V10 sounds amazing! Maybe adding a cool Tech/Gear/Camera storage area in the boot would be nice, on rollers, so once at a location pop the hatch and out slides gear & a picnic. Her stance would look nice with a slight rake to the rear too... Just a bit higher in the rear, so she looks mean & ready ;)

Love it! I reckon an Eisenmann valve-tronic exhaust would go down a treat 😉

If I’m not mistaken? Jeremy drove one of these on TopGear when they closed an Airport for the night. Still, another great Drivetribe episode 👍

Keep the colour Mike! Looking forward to more content on this ( I do prefer the e39 M5 but hey😜)

Please keep the colour!!! It is gorgeous!! Tune it up and fix the steering and you’ve got an absolute banger there!!

What about MAD Ford?!!!!?

I’d keep the color as it is, as it’s a very rare color, but fit a third petal. US-spec M5’s had a manual transmission option and that car has a manual transmission - albeit an automated one. I’ve seen people fit third petals to E46 M3 CSL’s, so it should be possible with this! It’ll enhance an already very-special car and do away with the biggest flaw of these IMO.

As mentioned by most comments below, please, PLEASE don't change the colour! Not only it's a rare option, but a way more attractive colour too. Apart from that, you still may want to look at the rod bearings and the cylinder liners (as with any common S85 engines > 50,000km). Exhaust system and tune-up is optional, but I'd definitely install some sort of a valved exhaust system so I can cruise around unsuspecting towns and enjoy the harmonic V10 when on WOT. The stock 500HP figure should be plentiful too, and of course you could add some more, but hey it's optional so I'd be happy for either route. Either way, congratulations on the banger purchase!

When I read the title I was hoping it was one of these, looking forward to this series 😁

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I love that you guys film so much at Smallest Cog. Love seeing those guys

I like the green colour - looks more unique and identifiable

This is a nicely delivered video, I do get why he like V10 engines... I could get behind this V10 campaign.

Keep the colour and do show us the whole process of dismantling if u bring it to the workshop

Brilliant little find Mike. Seen something similar here, but way out of my price range, so I stuck with the Volvo V70. Both brilliant cars. Love for you to keep the original colour, but if you were to wrap it, Scottish blue for sure.

I am NOT a BMW fan but that color is absolutely the color I would order that car in when new and it has stood the test of time. I vote KEEP the color as is.

Fantastic example you got your hands on, the color is perfect, don't make it tacky with those 2 choices you shown. My E61 also has a slow steering rack, I also wish was quicker.

You're mad to change the colour. If you wrap the carbon black you'll lose the 1 of 20 exclusivity tag

If it got me a V10 I'd dress like a crisp packet too

What a mad era in German estate cars and that was the best looking one of them, I say that even though I am an RS6 fan, a friend has a V10 TT RS6 Avant with an epic switchable exhaust, The first thing I would change is the exhaust, the colour suits the car.

V10 BMW's and Schitzel with noodles, these are a few of my favourite things!

Congratulations, if it was a manual it would've been the holly grail of all BMWs.

Manual swap?

GREAT FIND !

those engines are renowned for breaking, and breaking badly but what a car

There's just something incredibly cool about fast estates!

Leave the color alone!!! I thought it was hilarious when he said “BMW specialist fitted the cable incorrectly and resulted in a fire” not really a specialist was he then?

that color is gorgeous, do NOT change it!

You're definitely mad for changing the color but I'd love to watch this car changing to green, and specially that mighty green!!

Don't change the colour! Could do with a manual conversion though. Also consider seeing if you can fit an eonon head unit, I know they're really popular in the E90 crowd because you can get them with Android auto and apple car play.

Imagine these appreciate as much as M3 Tourings. Could turn into a very smart purchase, dont change the oem colour, if it is infact 1/20 then its illogical to change it... just restore and improve it.

She's Amazing! Just increase power! Perfect!

Yesss! As soon as I saw the title I knew it was the coolest wagon ever. Takes me straight back to Clarkson ripping this and the E55 amg at Manchester Airport 😍. Can't wait to follow this.