For when an M5 isn’t enough.
As is the way with BMW M cars, the M5 super-saloon has received an uprated, updated, and unhinged variant that dials the performance up to eleven, which promises to bring the most track-derived experience BMW M can offer in a 5-Series. The Competition pack is a lot more than just some look-at-me dress-up bits: This is a serious piece of kit.
How serious, you ask? Well, the 4.4-litre V8 has been tuned to produce a heady 460kW of power, up some 19kW, which has contributed to the shortened 0-100km/h time. The century sprint now takes .1-seconds less than it used to (just 3.3-seconds now), while 10.8-seconds will see you rocketing past 200km/h. De-restricted, expect to see an M5 Competition fly past at 305km/h.
Performance is great and all, but anyone paying over a BMW M5 for one of these will want all the bits and bobs they can get to denote them as better than the ‘vanilla’ M5 owner. To that end, Competition cars will find a smattering of gloss-black elements, including a black M5 badge with a smaller ‘Competition’ label beneath it. Further, a new suspension setup sees the ride lowered by 7mm, with the car sitting on a new set of 20-inch Y-spoke M-developed light alloy wheels.
Inside, there are small changes to denote the ‘Competition’ pack too. Throughout the cabin you’ll find aluminium-carbon weaved trim, finished in a dark chrome, while seated on Merino Aragon leather upholstery and strapped in by M-Sport seat belts (replete with stripes).
What might be of interest to potential M5 Competition buyers is the inclusion of a sports exhaust system as standard. While also making the V8 sound more raucous, there’s also the ability to tailor the volume of the M5 Competition using a button in the cabin. Presumably, there’s a mode for when you like your neighbours (or are trying to sneak out of the house for a date with the missus), and a mode for when you want to wake the neighbourhood. We appreciate being given the choice.
The BMW M5 Competition will begin UK deliveries in September, with prices sitting at a hair £90,000. In Australia, the BMW M5 is on sale for $200k, with M5 First Editions going for $230k. The M5 Competition has yet to be confirmed for our market, but if and when it is, expect to see a sticker price north of what’s being asked for the First Edition cars, that’s for sure.
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