Yesterday's candidate showed that Gibraltar wasn't the only interest Great Britain had in the Mediterranean. That twee Capri garnered a 60% Nice Price vote, despite having a ten grand point of entry. Today, we're moving to drama-filled LA, and are looking at something the whole family can enjoy- well, at least you'll keep telling yourself that.

When BMW introduced the first E28-based M5 at the '84 Amsterdam Auto Show, it made the Dutch drop their hash pipes and prostitutes, and sit up and take notice. That car's M1-based 3.5 litre six, nestled in the engine bay of the roundel-brand's mid-sizer took the ‘60s American muscle car recipe and added 4 doors worth of schnitzel to it.

The M5 was a hit in the U.S. as well, expanding the M brand to BMW's mainstream models along with the smaller M3. The E28 car was followed by the E34 in 1989, still with the six, but eventually bumped to 3.8 litres. Nine years later saw the arrival of a new M, and one that was powered for the first time in M5 history by something other than the traditional and venerated straight six. The E39 car rocked a V8 behind its iconic twin kidneys. Based on the M62 motor - and designated S62 - this 394-bhp aluminum-block monster elevated the M5 from very fast to holy crap! and kept the car competitive with the E55s and XJ-Rs that were thrown into battle against it.

Offered up by a dealer in the Los Angeles suburb of South Gate is this 2002 M5, in cobalt, with just shy of rolling six on its clock. These had an original MSRP in the U.S. of $69,900, but time and depreciation have taken their toll, and you can now pick up this clean example for $19,995. For that price, you're getting a 4-door family sedan with the performance of a Porsche 911. Stock, 60 is only 4.6 ticks away, but this car isn't stock- it has been breathed upon by Dinan, with the S2 package giving you a 76-bhp gain through air management and computer re-noodling. Speaking of noodles, the Dinan headers are a thing of beauty on these cars, although the seller didn't bother to snap a shot for our benefit. Other Dinan modifications include a shorter final drive (3.45:1 versus 2.81:1), stiffer springs and shocks, unique forged alloy wheels, wider tires, and front brake cooling ducts. There's also a lightened flywheel between the engine and the slick 6-speed transmission, and some bling for the trunk lid. All these mods (with the exception of the bling) worked to shave a half-second off of the zero-60 time, and were good for a claimed tsunami-outrunning 191-mph top end. Shee-it!

Back in 2002, this Dinan S2 package added $35,000 to the price of the already $70-grand M5, but today you can get the whole shlemiel for less than the cost of a non-leather equipped Accord. Sure it's an RCH away from one hundred grand on the odo, but it's also no longer a hundred grand out of your bank account.

So, what do you think of this budget super car? Is $19,995 enough of a deal to make you brave all the threats LA can dish up? Or, for that price, is it an unnatural disaster?

You decide!

UPDATE: I was contacted by a Dinan dealer (try saying that five time fast!) who ran the VIN on this car, and it appears that it's not rocking the S2 package, but just the cold air intake and strut brace. Now, those alone were several grand new, and this car remains on the low end of the KBB spectrum, but you might want to reevaluate your vote.

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The folks at Insure.com put together the following list of the most expensive cars to insure, and rather than just regurgitating that list, we've given each some analysis explaining why they cost so dang much to protect it and you from, you know, stuff.

[via thecarconnection, edmunds, insure.com]

20.) Mercedes SL-Class

Price: $98,500
Cost To Insure: $1,577
Curb Weight: 4220 lbs
Engine Displacement: 5.5 liter V8
HP: 382
TQ: 391
Top Speed: 155

Driver Stereotype: Country club golfing tycoon

Jalopnik Insurance Cost Analysis: The amount of insurance claims every year have been on the rise with the Mercedes SL, the majority of which involve dented hoods by way of errantly swung golf clubs.

19.) BMW X6
Price: $66,650
Cost To Insure: $1,584
Curb Weight: 5269 lbs
Engine Displacement: 4.4 liter V8
HP: 400
TQ: 450
Top Speed: n/a

Driver Stereotype: Stay-at-home soccer moms

Jalopnik Insurance Cost Analysis: The ugly and confusing nature of the BMW X6 design has confused many a folk to think they need to kill it with fire, unfortunately at the expense of a much higher insurance premium. Bummer.

18. Honda S2000
Price: $34,995
Cost To Insure: $1,587
Curb Weight: 2864 lbs
Engine Displacement: 2.2 liter inline-four
HP: 237
TQ: 162
Top Speed: n/a

Driver Stereotype: Track day / autocross rat or mid-life crisis'er

Jalopnik Insurance Cost Analysis: We've heard multiple claims of VtEc Yo! drove the price up on these nimble little guys especially when driven under anger at the track.

17. Cadillac Escalade EXT
Price: $61,130
Cost To Insure: $1,592
Curb Weight: 5990 lbs
Engine Displacement: 6.2 liter V8
HP: 403
TQ: 417
Top Speed: n/a

Driver Stereotype: Rap super star / drug-running thugs

Jalopnik Insurance Cost Analysis: The desire to have an Escalade in hip-hop and rap videos has caused an unjust amount of claims due to shitty music permanently affixed to the interiors, resulting in a total loss.

16. Land Rover Range Rover
Price: $77,675
Cost To Insure: $1,603
Curb Weight: 5698 lbs
Engine Displacement: 4.4 liter V8
HP: 305
TQ: 325
Top Speed: 121

Driver Stereotype: Bug eye sunglasses-wearing trophy wife

Jalopnik Insurance Cost Analysis: Too many nose and breast enhancements have resulted in over swelling of the chest and face, blocking access to cell phones and ultimately causing a record number of single vehicle accidents in the Range Rover.

15. Audi R8
Price: $114,200
Cost To Insure: $1,637
Curb Weight: 3605 lbs
Engine Displacement: 4.2 liter V8
HP: 420
TQ: 317
Top Speed: 187

Driver Stereotype: Modest Wall St. U.S. economy killer

Jalopnik Insurance Cost Analysis: When the economy collapsed, brokers rushed to trade in their Lamborghinis in order to pick up the less conspicuous Audi R8. When the public found out they had merely put a wolf in sheep's clothing, all hell broke loose resulting in AIG-crippling insurance claims.

14. Cadillac XLR
Price: $86,215
Cost To Insure: $1,694
Curb Weight: 3647 lbs
Engine Displacement: 4.6 liter V8
HP: 320
TQ: 310
Top Speed: n/a

Driver Stereotype: Bought the crappy Alante, needed updated crappy Cadillac convertible

Jalopnik Insurance Cost Analysis: Large amounts of owners have tried to show off the automatic folding roof in their garages causing both vehicle and residential claims. Tools.

13. BMW M3
Price: $57,850
Cost To Insure: $1,714
Curb Weight: 3704 lbs
Engine Displacement: 4.0 liter V8
HP: 414
TQ: 295
Top Speed: 155

Driver Stereotype: Typically a prick with an ego

Jalopnik Insurance Cost Analysis: Excess amounts of hair gel, collar popping, orange skin and overly bright white teeth have caused many severe accidents due to the dry heaving by oncoming drivers and the subsequent loss of their bodily functions and vehicular control.

12. Jaguar XK
Price: $77,200
Cost To Insure: $1,717
Curb Weight: 3651 lbs
Engine Displacement: 5.0 liter V8
HP: 300
TQ: 310
Top Speed: 155

Driver Stereotype: Grey-haired Florida dweller

Jalopnik Insurance Cost Analysis: The lack of vertical mobility that Grandpa exhibits seems to have gotten plenty like him stuck in the tight Jag, causing emergency crews to use the jaws of life to cut the roofs for extraction.

11. Chevrolet Cobalt SS
Price: $23,425
Cost To Insure: $1,762
Curb Weight: 2926 lbs
Engine Displacement: 2.4 liter turbo inline-four
HP: 260
TQ: 260
Top Speed: n/a

Driver Stereotype: GM faithful in need of SRT4 competitor

Jalopnik Insurance Cost Analysis: Many a Cobalt SS has been lost by its owner, likely getting mixed in with the multitude of other base Cobalts that all look the same, never to be seen or heard from again.

10. Porsche 911
Price: $76,300
Cost To Insure: $1,819
Curb Weight: 3120 lbs
Engine Displacement: 3.6 liter horizontally opposed six-cylinder
HP: 345
TQ: 288
Top Speed: 186

Driver Stereotype: Doctor, Lawyer, Deli Owner

Jalopnik Insurance Cost Analysis: Insurance fraud is exceedingly becoming more and more prevalent since it's the only way owners will be able to afford the next iteration of the 911 that Porsche seems to release on a bi-annual basis.

9. Lexus IS-F
Price: $56,760
Cost To Insure: $1,881
Curb Weight: 3780 lbs
Engine Displacement: 5.0 liter V8
HP: 416
TQ: 371
Top Speed: n/a

Driver Stereotype: Goes against the grain / hates German sports sedans

Jalopnik Insurance Cost Analysis: Simply put; The beige Camry's are NOT happy with this car.

8. Hummer H2
Price: $63,090
Cost To Insure: $1,912
Curb Weight: 6614 lbs
Engine Displacement: 6.2 liter V8
HP: 393
TQ: 415
Top Speed: n/a

Driver Stereotype: Gas guzzling, global warming douche

Jalopnik Insurance Cost Analysis: While driving on the polar ice caps, many Hummers have fallen into the sea due to the rapidly melting ice, effectively causing a global climate change and heavily padding Al Gore's pockets.

7. BMW M5
Price: $85,500
Cost To Insure: $2,020
Curb Weight: 4012 lbs
Engine Displacement: 5.0 liter V10
HP: 500
TQ: 383
Top Speed: 155

Driver Stereotype: Bigger prick than M3 owner, but can afford to be

Jalopnik Insurance Cost Analysis: A BMW M3 owners father. See M3 analysis.

6. Audi S8
Price: $96,200
Cost To Insure: $2,071
Curb Weight: 4586 lbs
Engine Displacement: 5.2 liter V10
HP: 450
TQ: 398
Top Speed: 155

Driver Stereotype: Wealthy, but not ostentatious

Jalopnik Insurance Cost Analysis: Too many drivers pretend they're Jason Statham in the Trasporter films. Need we say more?

5. Mercedes G-Class
Price: $100,250
Cost To Insure: $2,088
Curb Weight: 5510 lbs
Engine Displacement: 5.5 liter V8
HP: 382
TQ: 391
Top Speed: n/a

Driver Stereotype: Urban jungle explorer / poser

Jalopnik Insurance Cost Analysis: The U.S. military continues to mistake the G-Class as one with terrorist intent resulting in an overly large number of them being blown to smithereens by Homeland Security forces.

4. Ford Shelby GT500
Price: $43,125
Cost To Insure: $2,186
Curb Weight: 3920 lbs
Engine Displacement: 5.4 liter supercharged V8
HP: 500
TQ: 480
Top Speed: n/a

Driver Stereotype: Redneck with lottery money

Jalopnik Insurance Cost Analysis: Rednecks + High Power = Carnage. 'Nuff said.

3. BMW M6
Price: $102,100
Cost To Insure: $2,236
Curb Weight: 3909 lbs
Engine Displacement: 5.0 liter V10
HP: 500
TQ: 383
Top Speed: 155

Driver Stereotype: Gas station owner's fake bake tanned brother

Jalopnik Insurance Cost Analysis: A BMW M5 owners brother and M3 owners uncle. See both M3 and M5 analysis.

2. Dodge Viper SRT-10
Price: $88,590
Cost To Insure: $2,446
Curb Weight: 3430 lbs
Engine Displacement: 8.4 liter V10
HP: 600
TQ: 560
Top Speed: 200

Driver Stereotype: Compensation for the little things in life

Jalopnik Insurance Cost Analysis: When the women that get picked up in Vipers realize the owners "shortcomings" they've been known to swiftly and violently act out their revenge, usually with buckets of paint to the interior and a bouquet of keys to the exterior.

1. Nissan GT-R
Price: $79,090
Cost To Insure: $2,533
Curb Weight: 3814 lbs
Engine Displacement: 3.8 liter turbo V6
HP: 480
TQ: 430
Top Speed: 193

Driver Stereotype: Gran Turismo-playing, web 2.0, dot com'er

Jalopnik Insurance Cost Analysis: Massive damage and the loss of hundreds of GT-Rs have occurred when owners realized they could not in fact ride the walls around turns, drive through other cars or reset the game.

Sorry European footballers, you missed the boat, your chromed cars are now as fashionable as the macarena and trucker hats. Gold-plating is now the mark to hit, and if you can manage a chrome (platinum!) stripe, all the better.

Considering this particular example is but a mere BMW M5, there's quite a lot of room to move up the ridiculously expensive supercar ladder of gold-plating. We salute you, probable Russian gangster, for showing the world how it's done. [English Russia (where else?!)]

First, we're conflicted by the idea of a golfer taking delivery of such custom-car awesomeness, but considering it was his dollars and dreams that made it so, he can't be a normal golfer. Second, we need complete detail images, performance specs, and burnout and hoonage videos, immediately. We're actually a little hurt the car didn't debut by power-sliding through a herd of kangaroos while leaping through a ring of fire. Finally, the Deni Ute Muster — how did we not know about this event? It's got a list of ten commandments (.pdf) which reads like every out-of-control tailgate party we've ever been to. And over 6,000 utes in one place! In Australia! Plane tickets. We need them. (Thanks for the tip Chris) [CarAdvice.au]

Car Magazine, which snapped these shots, is reporting that the 2011 M5 will gain a breathed-on version of the BMW X6's 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8 producing a whopping 540 HP. Why? The current V10, despised by some but loved by others for its quirky rev-happy nature, will only meet emissions regulations for two more years. If the big V8 does find its way into the M5, expect a much lower revving, torquier drive. The magazine also reports that the M5 is likely to be manumatic only, which doesn't come as a surprise, but is still pretty disappointing. [via Car Magazine]

For good measure, that M-Power V10 has been massaged, now making 600 HP in the Veritas. That's a lot of power for any vehicle, but in a car that weighs a mere 2360 pounds, it's downright insane. The launch from 0-62 MPH should take just 3.2 seconds. If you keep on it, you'll hit a top speed of 216 MPH! Even if you were capable of carrying a passenger, they'd likely pass out from the g-forces. With just seven people in the company, Veritas' RS3 will be limited to just 50 units per year, when production starts at the end of 2008. And if a roofless single-seater simply isn't practical enough for you, the company hopes to make closed-top versions as well.
[via CarScoop]

Specifically advertising BMW's Motorsport models, we really hope that these are just mock-ups, or at least engine-less cars stuck on the wall. If not, we may have to find some Russian correspondents who have access to a giant crane and a shipping crate. Now, if only there were an M5 wagon up there.
[EnglishRussia]

[M5Ute.com]

G-POWER HURRICANE: 340 km/h and 730 hp: The World's Fastest and Most Powerful Street-Legal BMW

The worldís fastest and most powerful street-legal BMW is made by G-POWER. The 340-km/h G-POWER HURRICANE is based on the latest BMW M5. At the heart of the high-performance sedan is a five-liter V10 engine with G-POWER EVO II supercharging system that delivers 730 hp / 537.3 kW.

To achieve the desired increase in power output of 223 hp / 164 kW for the fast-revving engine that normally produces 507 hp / 373 kW, G-POWER, in cooperation with ASA Automotive, has developed a high-tech supercharging system. The system uses one belt-driven ASA T1-12 compressor for each cylinder bank. Contrary to conventional mechanical chargers that waste a large portion of the additional power on being driven themselves, the ASA compressor has an efficiency rate of up to 80 percent. The ASA charger is also small, which allows G-POWER to install two of them in the tight confines of the M5 engine bay. With a maximum airstream volume of up to 1,200 kg per hour per cylinder bank the compressors are designed for an even higher power output. Boost pressure is limited to 0.5 bars.

The pre-compressed charge air is cooled down in a highly efficient dual-flow water-to-air intercooler system that is mounted above the engine. This measure optimizes power yield and, in combination with a larger water-cooled oil cooler with pressure reservoir, also ensures the engineís thermal health. Specially developed mapping for engine electronics and SMG gearbox controls coordinate the perfect interaction of all new components.

The inner workings of the four-valve ten-cylinder engine are optimized for even higher engine speeds with lightweight, precision-matched high-performance forged pistons from technology partner MAHLE. The supercharged V10 engine produces its maximum power output of 730 hp / 537 kW between 7,500 and 8,200 rpm. The high efficiency rate of the two superchargers, each spinning at up to 100,000 rpm and more, results in a torque diagram that rises early and at 3,800 rpm already surpasses the production engineís peak torque of 520 Nm, delivered at 6,000 rpm. The new peak of 700 Nm is reached at 7,200 rpm.

Acceleration performance benefits accordingly. With a sprint time from rest to 100 km/h of 4.2 seconds the two-ton sedan bests its production counterpart by half a second. With approx. ten seconds to 200 km/h the advantage grows to 5.0 seconds. The 300-km/h barrier is shattered in less than 29.5 seconds. Contrary to the production car the G-POWER HURRICANE is not limited electronically to a top speed of 250 km/h. Aided by the specially cooled G-POWER anti-slip differential the engine propels the car to a top speed of 340 km/h.

The enormous performance places extreme demands on aerodynamics, tires, suspension and brakes.

The G-POWER front apron, upon request also available made from especially light carbon fiber, replaces the production part in its entirety. Its large air inlets provide optimal supply of cooling air for all radiators and front brakes. At the same time the spoiler minimizes lift on the front axle at high speeds.

The G-POWER rocker panels smooth the airflow between the wheel houses and give the M5 and longer, lower and sleeker appearance. Lift on the rear axle is reduced by a spoiler lip attached to the trunk lid and the carbon-fiber rear diffuser for the G-POWER rear apron.

Even better driving dynamics and more exclusive looks are the hallmark of the G-POWER Silverstone 21-inch light-alloy wheels that fill out the space beneath the wheel arches perfectly. The drop-center rims have brilliant-graphite coated centers while the outer rim wells and spokes are polished. They are mounted in sizes 9.5 J x 21 with size 255/30 ZR 21 tires in front and size 10.5 J x 21 wheels with size 295/25 ZR 21 tires on the rear axle. Technology partner Dunlop provides the perfect high-speed tires.

The large wheels make room for the G-POWER high-performance brake system with six-piston fixed calipers and 400 x 36 millimeter brake discs on the front axle. G-POWER also offers an upgrade package for the standard M5 brakes that consists of high-performance pads and brake fluid.

The M5 handling can be made even sportier by installing the height-adjustable G-POWER coil-over suspension RS with nine selectable settings each for bound and rebound.

For upgrading the cockpit G-POWER offers sporty components made from exposed carbon-fiber trim or an ergonomically shaped NARDO EDITION sport steering wheel covered in perforated G-POWER Kjerba-Nappa leather that is a pleasure to touch.

The G-POWER HURRICANE is available as a fully converted car starting at 240,000 Euros. Any existing M5 ñ sedan and wagon ñ can also be upgraded with the G-POWER twin-compressor system, available for 89,000 Euros. The price includes all necessary modifications to suspension, brakes and wheels. Also available are any items from the extensive G-POWER tuning accessories lineup.

It could all be a joke. I've spent many hours with my Bavarian extended family and they consider themselves quite the humorists. They're always like "Massew, come back to Germany with us and we'll take you to a soccer game. We'll go on Wednesday. It's Helmet Day. Everyone named Helmut gets in Free!." Now you know where my sense of humor comes from. [Winding Road]