The E60 generation M5 was was a very unique model. It came with a 500 horsepower, 5.0-liter V10 engine which is arguably the best sounding engine that BMW has ever made. This S85 engine was normally mated to a seven-speed SMG automated manual, which was jerky and had some reliability issues. This transmission was fast at the time, but M car enthusiasts in North America begged BMW to offer the car with a stick shift. Amazingly, BMW listened and offered a six-speed manual for the North American market only. Take that Europe.

The E60 M5 may be one of the only times when the US got a manual and the Europeans didn't. In fact, thanks to more complaints from enthusiasts, we even got the F10 M5 with a manual option. We may have never received the E61 M5 estate, but we did get our manual.