Back in the mid-2000s to early 2010s, YouTube was a wildly different place. After all, the platform started as a simple video-sharing site where anyone could upload clips with minimal barriers: no fancy editing software required, just a webcam or phone camera and a dream.
The homepage was basic and chaotic, filled with random thumbnails, a straightforward search bar, and a handful of featured videos that often went viral purely through word-of-mouth shares via email, forums, or early social media. Resolutions hovered around 240p or 360p, buffering was a constant companion, and the player interface felt raw and unpolished.
Viral fame exploded from quirky, amateur content, many of which were videos that spread because they were hilarious, shocking, or just bizarre enough to share. There were few rules, no heavy content moderation, and creators uploaded for passion rather than monetization.
This was exactly the world Giorgi Tevzadze stepped into in the early 2010s.
A young Georgian drifter from Tbilisi, he captured global attention with raw, heart-pounding footage of his Daytona Violet-colored BMW E34 M5.
E34 M5 is widely regarded as one of the greatest performance sedans ever made: a true "sleeper" that combined understated looks with ferocious power, razor-sharp handling, and everyday usability. Produced from 1988 to 1995 as part of the third-generation 5 Series, it was hand-assembled at BMW Motorsport's Garching facility, making it the last truly hand-built M5.
While it was pale in performance if compared to some supercars or other sportscars at the time, handling was where the E34 M5 truly shone, and that it aged like fine wine.
Its balanced chassis, quick steering ratio, firm but compliant suspension, and rear-wheel-drive purity made it feel incredibly agile and communicative. In fact, in 2013, it could still embarrass many newer cars on twisty roads thanks to its low center of gravity, minimal electronic interference, and that legendary inline-six scream to redline.
The 2013 F10 M5 was quicker across the line, thanks to its massive power. But E34 was way lighter, and much more communicative.
An E34 M5 is a raw machine, wrapped in a four-door soloon; a wolf in sheep's clothing.
And this car was Giorgi's weapon, flooring the gas pedal to the firewall, as he slided through crowded city streets in smoky drifts, aggressive overtakes in traffic, and maneuvers that mixed insane skill with pure recklessness.
Uploaded through channels tied to NeedForDrive, these clips weren't slick productions; they were shaky, loud, and real, perfectly suited to an era when YouTube rewarded audacity over polish.
His name echoed across the internet among car enthusiasts and adrenaline junkies alike.
Millions watched, shared, and argued in the comments, some even called him a genius behind the wheel, while others refer to him as a danger to society.
He was a driving god to his fans, and a reckless maniac to others.
Giorgi shrugged it off with humor, once replying cheekily that he wasn't planning to crash just because viewers wanted drama. Born in 1987, he had been obsessed with cars since his teens, recently married, and even talked about starting an extreme driving school. His videos embodied the untamed spirit of early YouTube: no sponsorships, no clickbait, just a guy doing what he loved at full throttle.
Tragically, that wild ride ended on June 22, 2013, at age 26.
After a night out near Batumi, Giorgi was in the passenger seat of his own M5, driven this time by a sober friend, when the car lost control on winding roads and smashed passenger-side into a tree. The once-mighty E34 was reduced to twisted metal, a heartbreaking end for the machine that had carried him to fame.
Giorgi was killed instantly; the driver survived with injuries.
The irony stung: the master of street drifting, untouchable behind the wheel, met his end as a passenger.
The irony was crushing: the king of street racing and drifting, the man who had cheated death countless times while in control, met his fate as a passenger.
Tributes flooded in from fans worldwide, with memorial pages and tribute videos honoring the man who lived, and ultimately died, doing exactly what he loved. Some called it inevitable, a cautionary tale about playing with fire. Others saw it as the loss of a true original, someone who embodied the wild spirit of car culture before social media algorithms sanitized everything.
In an age before influencers chased metrics and everything felt calculated, Giorgi Tevzadze went viral the old-school way:through sheer, unfiltered madness and talent.
His story is a raw reminder of YouTube's early magic: a place where ordinary people could become legends overnight, but also where the risks were all too real. He lived fast, died young, and left behind footage that still thrills and warns in equal measure.
Memorials and reposts are keeping his legacy alive.
OOM-500 (Georgian license plate) was a highly respected machine in the underground drifting scene, but detailed, verified information on Giorgi's exact modifications to the car is surprisingly scarce, even after more than a decade after his death.
While Giorgi himself had made interviews, he never went big and public about his build, nor create spec lists (something common in the raw early-2010s era), and most surviving info came from fan observations, video analysis, and community discussions.
In other words, it's not publicly known what Giorgi did to his E34 M5. But what's certain is that, he had the skill needed to tame the beast.
As for the license plate, even for years later, it still describes no other car than Giorgi's BMW.
To remember the street racer, fans have also recreated the iconic E34 M5 in games like Assetto Corsa, BeamNG, or Forza.