Ask almost any BMW enthusiast which M5 is best and the answer will be almost unanimous — the E39. That’s beacuase it likely is the best, for several reasons. Its chassis balance is near perfect for a super sedan, its engine is a naturally-aspirated and charismatic V8 and its looks are perfectly subtle, subdued and handsome. Wanna know how to ruin an E39 BMW M5? Give it the same face and butt as the E60-gen BMW M5.
The E60 BMW M5 is an interesting car because it’s both loved and hated by enthusiasts. Loved because of its sensational free-breathing V10 and hated for its oddball styling and over-complication. So someone decided to take that E39 BMW M5, which is about as close to perfect as a super sedan gets and give it the worst part of the E60 M5 (styling) but not the best part (engine).
This E39/E60 Frankenstein hybrid recently popped up on German eBay and it’s, well, odd. It actually looks better than it sounds, as the body conversion seems to have been done better than expected. Still, it doesn’t look right. It looks odd and wrong and a bit annoying, actually. Both cars are incredibly special and most BMW enthusiasts would kill to own either. So destroying two of these cars to create one seems incredibly wasteful.
Mechanically, it still seems to be an E39 BMW M5, with the 5.0 liter naturally-aspirated V8 under the hood. Its interior is also mostly E39, with some custom seat upholstery. So it should probably still drive quite well, so long as the suspension hasn’t been modified for the worst.
We all love exciting modification and all sorts of different swaps; engine, body or otherwise. But this just seems wrong. Either car is fantastic on its own and they should not be combined.
[Source: Car Throttle]
