There Was A Time When You Could Buy A Twin-Turbo BMW 5-Series Wagon With A Manual: Holy Grails

My recent obsession with BMWs has taken me down a rabbit hole and it seems that there is no bottom to it. Bayerische Motoren Werke AG has produced a number of rare oddballs throughout its history and if you don’t know where to look, you might miss them. Thanks to the Bishop I’ve found another. For three model years in America, you could buy a BMW 535xiT, a wagon with all-wheel-drive, a twin-turbo straight six making 300 HP, and paired with a manual transmission.

Last time on Holy Grails, reader MEK reminded us that Mazda had more fun cars in the 1990s than just the RX-7 and the Miata. In 1991, Mazda released the MX-3. The higher trim level of the MX-3 came with an odd configuration. Under the hood sat a tiny 1.8-liter V6 driving the front wheels. Backing up the engine was a form of passive rear-steer. Mazda’s baby V6–touted as the smallest mass-produced V6 of its day–wasn’t all that fast. It had fewer ponies than its four-cylinder competitors, after all. Instead, Mazda touted the engine’s smoothness and the fact that you could buy a compact economy car with a V6 in the first place.

Today’s grail will take us in a slightly different direction. This car was normally common, but when enthusiasts optioned it in a certain way, it became something rare and desirable.

Down The Rabbit Hole

A couple of weekends ago, I adopted another car into my fleet of misfits. Our very own Daydreaming Designer, the Bishop, sold me his 2007 BMW 530xiT wagon. Maybe I’m so used to driving featureless cars with questionable quality, but this wagon is easily the best cheap car purchase that I’ve ever made. Heck, in terms of how nice it is to drive and just sit in, it might be the best vehicle in my current fleet. Sure, I have cars and motorcycles that are far more fun, but I feel like I could drive this BMW across the country and not feel a bit fatigued.

Now that my wife and I both own BMWs that were formerly under the care of the Bishop, we’ve been looking for little quality-of-life improvements. Sheryl fixed her E39 wagon’s abysmal factory cupholders and I’m thinking about swapping out the gauges in my E61. Along the way, Bishop is telling us some history about the cars, offering advice, and even revealing his own holy grails. He’s actually given me two grails, both of them rare BMWs.

The Bangle Era Of BMW

As I’ve written before, the 2003 release of the BMW E60 5-Series (that’s the fifth generation 5-Series) caused a bit of an upset. BMW, a brand then known for conservative and stately designs, started a revolution. Cars like the E39 5-Series (this car’s predecessor) featured bodies that some might describe as timeless today. But the E60? It practically burst through a wall like the Kool-Aid man with its bold curves and a rear end so big it would make Sir Mix-a-Lot break into a sweat. Oh yeah!

Of course, the E60 hails from BMW’s Chris Bangle era. In October 1992, Chris Bangle became BMW’s head of design. At the time, he was notable for being the first American to take on the position. Over time, he ushered in a new era where BMW’s cars became increasingly striking. Whether it’s praise or disdain, the vehicles designed under his leadership certainly seem to invoke some kind of response from enthusiasts and the public at large.

The E60 was another vehicle designed under the direction of Chris Bangle. Its design was initially penned by Boyke Boyer and finished by Davide Arcangeli. At the time, Arcangeli was known for his work at Pininfarina, where he worked on the Peugeot 406’s design. Arcangeli reportedly struggled to get the E60’s design into the clay. Apparently, he spent weeks trying to get all of the curves into a clay model. But he succeeded and finished the E60’s design in 2000. BMW brass loved what they saw and gave it the green light.

Sadly, Arcangeli passed away later in 2000 and would never get to see his baby turned into a production car. Fueled with grievous determination, Bangle and the rest of the car’s design team decided to honor their comrade by pushing the E60’s design into production just as Arcangeli left it. Every E60 5-Series on the road is basically a celebration of Arcangeli’s work.

A Buffet Of Power

When the BMW E60 5-Series launched in 2003, it was available with a variety of engines. Here in America, the base 525i sported a 2.5-liter M54 six making 184 HP and 175 lb-ft torque while the top of the line was the 545i with its 4.4-liter N62 V8, which made 325 HP and 330 lb-ft torque. In the middle sat the 530i with its 3.0-liter M54 six making 225 HP and 214 lb-ft torque.

Over time, BMW would expand the line and the engines. The E60 is notable for having the first and only M5 to come with a V10. That beastly 5.0-liter S85 V10 makes 507 HP and 520 lb-ft torque. Even the 530i got a power bump over time. My 2007 530xiT has the aforementioned 3.0-liter straight six, but it’s making 255 HP and 220 lb-ft torque.

Now, the V10 lovers in our midst might feel that the M5 wagon would be the holy grail. I love a good V10 so I would be right there with them.

However, the M5 that Americans got was the sedan, making the wagon M5 more of a forbidden fruit. Making things a bit weirder is the fact that Europeans got the M5 wagon, but their wagons came with BMW’s controversial SMG automatic.

Fear not, because there’s another way to get a quick manual 5-Series wagon.

The Grail

On Saturday, the Bishop told me that there is a grail hiding in BMW’s ranks and you may not even know about it. In September 2007, BMW announced a facelift of the E60/E61 generation. The 2008 5-Series would get updated styling, improved interior materials, and some interesting powertrain updates.

On the lower end of the 5-Series’ line was the 528i, which offered a 3.0-liter N52 six making 230 HP and 200 lb-ft torque. Meanwhile, on the high end sat the 550i with its 4.8-liter N62 V8 making 360 HP and 360 lb-ft torque. What we’re looking for here is the middle of the line. Why? I’ll let BMW explain:

The 535i models are powered by the world’s first inline six-cylinder with Twin-Turbo and High Precision Direct Injection technology and an all-aluminum crankcase. Rated at 300 hp at 5,800 rpm and 300 lb-ft of torque at 1,400 -5,000 rpm, this 3.0-liter engine offers cutting-edge performance thanks to the theories behind BMW’s Efficient Dynamics.

That’s right, BMW added a straight-six twin-turbo engine to the lineup and it’s reportedly an engine exclusive to the North American market. Indeed, that means that we got the M5 with a manual that the Europeans couldn’t get and we also got our own engine. That’s only part of the holy grail formula. If you so desired, you could have that engine in an all-wheel-drive wagon body and shifted with a manual transmission. A twin-turbo straight-six manual AWD wagon! I feel like this car could only get more Autopian if it were brown.

The 535xiT was sold with a manual transmission from 2008 to 2010 and nobody seems to know just how many of them are out there, but one person claims to have asked a dealership and claims that the total number sold is “less than 40.” In my research, I’ve seen estimates as high as “under 300.” I reached out to BMW to see if it knows and as of publishing, I have not heard back. I will update should I get more concrete information.

What I can tell you is that these are so rare that the Bishop has seen only two of them. I’ve also not found a single review of the 535xiT configuration out there. The closest I’ve been able to find are reviews for the 535i sedan with this engine and transmission. Here’s what Car and Driver had to say:

Shouldered with a couple hundred extra pounds in the 5-series, the twin-turbo 3.0-liter’s delights are only slightly diminished. After driving all varieties of the 5-series, this is the car that was unanimously voted the best buy. The 200-pound weight saving over the more powerful 550i results in a car that feels more balanced, with a sportier feel and greater willingness to engage and conquer corners on the roads snaking down toward Death Valley’s floor, 282 feet below sea level. Even better, the 535i should be good for scampering to 60 mph in the mid-to-high-five-second range, nearly running with the far more expensive 550i.

As delightful as the engine and ride are, the car is not perfect. Although nicely weighted, the schizophrenic steering is curiously twitchy and numb just off-center. Once the car is bent into a turn, confidence builds, but when traveling in a straight line, the 535i nervously feints after every irregularity in the road. Placing the car near the outside stripe on the pavement takes more faith than it should. This, of course, is a problem present in all 5-series models, regardless of engine choice.

The publication even goes as far as to say that the turbo six is better than the V8:

The twin-turbo inline-six, quite frankly, renders the 550i obsolete, a tool for ignorant status seekers and those with a vendetta against Mother Earth. If that’s the way you feel, though, save yourself $10,000 and just turn on the pump at a gas station and lay the nozzle on the ground. In addition to the inline-six’s better feel and responses at the limit and better fuel economy, the 535i barely trails the 550i in performance categories that matter on U.S. shores. Maybe on a German autobahn the additional power would come in handy at high speeds, but here, that 10 grand would be better funneled into heated seats and the Sport package.

What it sounds like here is that the 535i and 535xiT aren’t on the level of the M5, but perhaps you’ll enjoy them more than a 550i. Besides, you cannot even get the M5 as a manual wagon in the United States.

A Rare Luxury Liner

Inside these cars, you’ll find even more technology than you’ll find in my 530xiT. You’ll get the same head-up display, parking sensors, motorized tailgate, night vision, and iDrive system that I have plus more. These can get equipped with an active cruise control system that has the ability to stop and go, a lane departure warning system, an updated iDrive interface, and even an electronic gear selector. Of course, like the pre-facelift models, you could get the car with an active roll stabilization system, variable-ratio planetary gearbox steering, and more.

My piece on my E60 explains even further, but to keep it simple: These cars are like rolling, exciting laptops. I still haven’t even discovered all of the features that my car has. Let’s go back to the rarity for a moment. Usually, when I’ve reached the end of a Holy Grails I will try to find some for sale to get a gauge on what they’re worth. In this case, I have no idea. I couldn’t even find press images of an E61 in this exact configuration. None of these have sold on Cars & Bids or on Bring a Trailer with a manual transmission.

As I said before, estimates place production numbers at under 300 units, so finding one might be a bit difficult. I did find one for sale on Facebook (featured above) with 190,000 miles. That seller claims it’s one of 328 and the asking price is a steep $18,000. If you find one, it sounds like you’ve found yourself a unicorn.

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