Would You Pay $435 Per Horsepower to Own the BMW M5 Competition Over the Standard Model? [News]

2019 BMW M5 Competition
The BMW M5 Competition (left) versus the standard M5 (right). [Photo: BMW]

 This is the most powerful, most expensive model yet – meet the M5 Competition

It’s an M5 that can hit nearly 190 miles per hour. It cracks the 0-60 run in 3.1 seconds. And, as icing on the cake, it’s the most powerful BMW sedan, ever. Remember when we tested the original M5 a couple months ago? Check that out first – we’ll wait (watch the video below). You might have noticed an interesting comment from Roman: “Is there enough horsepower? Hell no!” The latest generation M5 packs 600 horsepower from its twin-turbo 4.4-liter V8, but that’s just not enough for this super sedan. Well, it appears BMW was listening, and they came up with this: the M5 Competition.

It’s the hardcore M version of the already hardcore M version of the 5 Series. Think along the lines of Mercedes-AMG’s “Black Series” and you’re there. Naturally, the M5 Competition pushes out more power, but perhaps not as much as you’d expect. There’s now 617 horsepower and 553 lb-ft of torque from the 4.4-liter V8. Power is up by 17, but the torque figure remains the same. Hmm. Mind you, there are some more goodies in the M5 Competition trim beyond the slight horsepower bump.

BMW bestowed this model with some black-chrome finish on the windows, mirrors, door handles and grille, some suspension tuning, and a louder M Sport exhaust. If you opt for the M Driver’s package, the top speed nudges up to 189 mph. Of course, it still comes mated to a lightning-fast eight-speed automatic and BMW’s xDrive all-wheel drive system. And yes, you can still turn it off, if you want your M5 to drive like, well, an M5, as previous generations were rear-wheel drive.

Here’s the part that hurts: the price. You do get a bit more, but you’re also paying $7,400 over a standard M5. That means the price for this one, out the door, is $110,995, including destination. The M5 wasn’t exactly cheap before, but now? Would you pay the equivalent of $435 per horsepower to have the fastest M5 yet?

Watch our first drive of the 2018 BMW M5 below!