M5 Sedan

Make
BMW
Segment
Sedan

BMW has been pushing its full-powered Competition models hard in recent years. In fact, it's becoming increasingly rare to see a non-Competition model when a new M car launches. Existing M models are affected as well, with the regular M2 only offered in Competition specification, discounting the M2 CS, of course.

The same is true of the facelifted M5, which so far has only been seen in Competition spec, with every single one of BMW's press photos being of this more powerful M5. But now we get to see what the regular M5 looks like thanks to images from BMW's Germany website. As expected, the 2021 BMW M5 is more of a sleeper car than the Competition (pictured below in red), with some of the exterior styling details being toned down.

As an example of this, whereas the M5 Competition has an all-black treatment for the reshaped kidney grille, the regular M5 applies chrome to its grille. At the back, the Competition has a black rear apron insert surrounding the quad-exit tailpipes, whereas the normal M5 uses a lot more body-color trim. Of course, the darker and more aggressive Competition wheels also stand out from the regular M5's 19-inch alloys, which look pretty ordinary by comparison.

The standard BMW M5 can be specced in new metallic colors including Alvit Gray and Tanzanite Blue. The body-color mirrors are also painted in these shades, whereas the Competition has black mirror caps. In general, the standard M5 reminds of the E39 M5 in the way it almost completely conceals its breathtaking performance beneath a restrained body.

Both facelifted M5s are otherwise fairly similar, receiving revised headlights and taillights, with the former using L-shaped DRLs. In the cabin, they now have both a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and a 12.3-inch touchscreen for the infotainment system, along with the addition of Android Auto.

Under the hood, they're as before, with the regular M5's 600-horsepower twin-turbo V8 making way for a 617-hp version in the Competition. However, there is only a small difference in acceleration to 62 mph (the Competition is just a tenth of a second quicker), so if you like the more understated appearance of the normal M5, you will hardly be losing out in terms of performance.