"These build journal entries are part of a Special Series on the development of the E60 M5 & M6 Carbon Fiber Driveshaft by YFCM Composites.

In this entry, the fix is also in for 6spd owners. The variant of the carbon driveshaft for the OEM and E9x M3 manual transmission converted M5s gets fitted to the 2x V10 M5 drift taxis from DriftTour.com"
- Matt

InnovAuto's Drift Team. 

InnovAuto are my go-to mechanics for everything M. They've been servicing my M cars since late 2021 and I've come to discover their talents and potential throughout the years. 

Tomy is a mech at InnovAuto, but also a professional drift driver. He drifts the shop's 135i swapped with a 2JZ putting down 700whp. 

The V10 M5 drift taxi.  

Phil & the gang at InnovAuto are also hardcore M enthusiasts. Their shop strictly services BMW and they own various models, including many S65s and S85s. 

For years, they have been drifting a gutted E60 M5 V10 converted to manual with an E9x M3 6spd.

The cars run on Scale suspensions and Wisefab wide-angle front knuckles - but the rest of the powertrain is stock: the diff, driveshaft, transmission and engine are all original specifications. 

It's been their fun get-away-from-the-shop car and unofficially a side business.

Their videos became viral hits on a few occasions across YouTube, Instagram and Facebook. 

DriftTour.com

Over the Winter, they've decided to step it up and turn it into an event based, touring business. They've added another and are now tandem drifting them across the Eastern seaboard. You can learn more about their upcoming events here. 

They created a new taxi themed livery and wrapped both cars. 

Yes, they do sport a Taxi sign as well that has yet to be wired. 

The drift taxis support Tomy with additional seat time to practice his skills. 

The need for more rear end response. 

With the cars being fitted with 4x bucket seats and running on stock power, they were looking for ways to increase response of the rear. We can't fit solid subframe bushings on the E60's rear aluminum subframe, our options are limited to improve response. 

The decision was made to pull the trigger on a set of carbon driveshafts in the recently developed 6 speed application for the S85 cars. 

This unit was produced in late 2022 and is the 187th driveshaft produced for M cars. We've since gone beyond 300 with the Winter '23 group buy. 

With most of its upcoming lift spent on full throttle applications at high RPMs, the patented self-locking flange should prove its worth to prevent ungluing. 

The heat treated telescopic CV flange at the differential should be up to task and handle the shocks of Tomy's inputs and e-brake use. 

A rapid installation. 

The mechs at Innov have installed and uninstalled my carbon driveshafts across the 3x cars a dozen time by now. They are efficiency fanatics, constantly finding ways to do things faster, with less efforts. 

The new trick is to unbolt the diff from the 2x front bushings, and let it hang, barely supported by a vertical transmission jack. 

The diff hangs to fit the driveshaft. It is then lifted by the jack on the differential itself.  

With the car in neutral, they rotate the driveshaft by simply turning it to access the bolts. 

The carbon driveshaft got bolted to the transmission flange first, and voila!

Up next: I will update this entry with Tom and Martin's impressions. 

Preliminary impressions: Martin has already driven the other M5 previously fitted with it and immediately felt the more responsive rear end. 

We'll see how it handles the Summer's beating.