S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Anomaly's Zone Cars Adds a BMW, Manual Shifting, and More Ways for Your Ride to Break Down

There's probably no worse place to have your car break down than the Zone. You're miles from anything resembling civilization, your backpack is full of radioactive junk, and the local wildlife has a nasty habit of trying to eat you. Calling roadside assistance isn't exactly an option, either.

But hey, at least you got to drive a BMW.

Zone Cars Vehicle Overhaul, created by SkyF1x, has been bringing vehicle ownership to S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Anomaly, and its latest update adds a BMW M5 E34 to the growing collection. You can even drive it with a six-speed manual gearbox, complete with animated shifting and radio controls. Because if you're going to risk your life crossing the Zone, you might as well do it in something with a decent soundtrack.

Of course, owning a car out there comes with its own headaches. Vehicles consume fuel, take damage, and can develop mechanical problems that leave you struggling to start the engine or watching it stall at a particularly inconvenient moment. You can turn off those extra complications if you'd rather focus on driving, but we think there's something fitting about having to worry whether your battered old Niva will actually make it back to camp.

The overhaul now offers twelve vehicles through two dealerships, ranging from ordinary Soviet-era cars and off-roaders to a tractor and an armored personnel carrier. Not exactly the selection you'd find at your neighborhood dealership, but then again, this isn't exactly your neighborhood.

Personally, we'd probably take the armored personnel carrier. It might not be as stylish as the BMW, but we're guessing the mutants won't care much about your taste in German engineering.