This Rare Station Wagon Will Have You Feeling Like a F1 Driver

If you do your research right, you'll find plenty of station wagons out there that are both practical and thrilling to own. Of course, there are several levels that you can go through, depending on the kind of budget you have.

You can get a fast family car for $10K, but if you insist on being seriously fast, you're going to have to dig deeper than that. Cars like the Cadillac CTS-V Wagon, the Audi RS 6, or the Mercedes-AMG E 63 are there to provide you with considerable boot space and neck-bending acceleration at the same time.

But what about the other big German car manufacturer? Well, BMW has built a few fast wagons too. Back in the early '90s, you could have gotten a brand new BMW M5 Touring with 340-hp on tap. BMW failed to offer a Touring version for the E39 but decided to make a comeback halfway through the first decade of the third millennium.

Any true BMW fan is going to get goosebumps just by thinking of the BMW M5 E60 and its F1-derived V10 engine. There are few things in this world that sound as cool or even better than a rotary engine, and the S85 V10 is one of them, at least from my point of view.

More than 20,500 BMW M5s were built within about five years. All of them were equipped with the 500-HP monster of an engine. Some were fitted with a 7-speed SMG automatic transmission, while North American clients had access to a much more thrilling 6-speed manual.

But the interesting fact here is that only about 19,500 units were delivered as sedans. That means that more than 1,000 Touring models were delivered to customers, so it's not hard to see why most people consider the E61 to be a sort of Holy Grail for the German brand.

The E61 Touring is, by all means, a limited edition of a vehicle that was already a limited edition by itself. It's BMW's way of offering you the liberty to drive your kids to school at 9 AM and then rush to the racetrack for a fast lap at 10 AM.

That's right, you won't embarrass yourself driving the E61 to your local circuit, as it has already lapped the Nürburgring in just over 8 minutes. How many station wagons do you know that can hit 190 mph (305 kph) and sound like they were competing for a Grand Prix podium at the same time?

This Black Sapphire Metallic M5 E61 we came across earlier is located in the Czech Republic, and it's unfortunately fitted with the SMG gearbox. But if you're keen on having a third pedal inside, getting a manual conversion is always an option.

The odometer shows less than 40,000 miles (64,373 km) on it, and this is an all-original, unmolested vehicle. Resorting to any upgrades could be a difficult choice to make, but you should at least consider an aftermarket exhaust system to help it channel its inner racer.

If you're unfamiliar with the way an M5 E61 feels, we've sourced a video of one in action that speaks for itself. The seller hasn't disclosed the price for this car. But you should expect to pay anything between $50,000 to $100,000 for this BMW-badged sleeper.