We just found out that you can't fully disengage the stability control on the new 6-speed M5.  It is, quite obviously, the end of the world.

When BMW introduced its M5 without a manual transmission, lots of people complained.  An SMG-equipped seven-speed M5 should be faster around a track than a manual, it was said.  But who cares - the M5 weighs 4000 pounds.  Anything that weighs almost two tons isn't a track car in the World According to Jason.

So what is the M5?  In my mind, it's supposed the ultimate daily driver.  It's the car that you can drive every day - normally, at ludicrous speeds, or anywhere in between.  So it should be fun.  A transmission that emulates a cervical adjustment from a heavy-handed chiropractor each and every time it shifts is not fun.

BMW listened to all the complaints.  Thank you, BMW North America!  For 2007, we're getting a six-speed manual M5.  Woohoo, right?!  No.

We just found out that you can't fully disengage the DSC (Dynamic Stability Control) on manual transmission M5s.  Why?  Well, according to BMW, it's because they don't want owners doing 8000-rpm clutch-dumps and then making BMW pay for new driveline components.  It will have an "M Dynamic Mode," presumably similar to the "Dynamic Traction Mode" on other BMWs, that raises - but does not eliminate - the DSC intervention threshold.

Here's my problem:  In every other BMW product, you can do a redline clutch dump with DSC on.  It just won't accomplish much in the way of acceleration.  If I can do one on a lowly 525i, why in the name of all things Holy shouldn't you be able to do it in BMW's halo performance sedan?

What is the point of having 500 tire-shredding horsepower if you can't... shred tire? 

Somehow, Ford sold their 550-hp GT without any traction or stability control.  Those systems can be completely disabled on every true sports car in the world, from the Porsche 911 to the Ferrari F430.  So why should the M5 be any different?

I'll reserve my full-on wrath until I drive the new manual M5.  We're not yet sure what M Dynamic Mode will allow - maybe it will let me get away with enough debauchery that I won't care? Until then, I'm predicting that this is the end of the world as BMW knows it.  Automatic M5s, turbocharged 3-series?  What's next, a 7-series that parks itself?!

The Ultimate Driving Machine is slowly morphing into the Ultimate Computing Machine.