DriveTribe’s E61-generation BMW M5 Touring is becoming quite famous on the YouTube machine. And how could it not, it’s a manual-swapped M5 wagon that’s partially owned by James May and Richard Hammond. Both of whom have driven it on screen. For car nerds, that’s a pretty great recipe for viral internet success. So we can’t help but follow the build and tune in for every new video, which is why we’re excited to watch this new one in which the E61 M5 Touring took on the Nurburgring.
There’s something very right about an M5 on the ‘Ring. Not only is the Nurburgring the unofficial second home of BMW but the legendary Sabine Schmitz famously used an M5 as a Nurburgring taxi. Ironically, her most famous Nurburgring taxi was an E60 M5 sedan, so there’s a connection between the DriveTribe car and the iconic racing driver. Also, DriveTribe was founded by former Top Gear members and Schmitz was both a guest star on the Clarkson/Hammon/May Top Gears and an actual host of the Evans/Harris/Reid days. Another connection.
This video is also interesting because DriveTribe hooked up with the YouTube king of the Nurburgring, Misha Charoudin. In the video, Charoudin first acts as a ‘Ring coach from the passenger seat, belting out instructions like an auctioneer. I don’t think I’d be able to keep up with those instructions, as he was just letting them rip. However, watching it from the comfort of my laptop, it’s incredibly impressive just how well he knows the track and how quickly he can process what’s happening and figure out what to do next. That sort of ability only comes from extreme familiarity, from having driven literally thousands of laps in just five years.
Afterward, though, Charoudin himself jumped into the E61 M5 Touring for a hot lap of his own. He’d never drive an E60-generation M5 with a manual before, so it was a new experience for him as well. But it also allowed him to flex his Nurburgring muscles a bit, showing just how well he knows the track and how skilled he is at navigating it.
It’s a really fun video and well worth your 20 minutes to check it out. Not only do you get to see the manual E61 M5 Touring but…
