While it’s unknown just how much longer the world’s motoring brands will continue to produce high performance internal combustion performance sedans, it’s clear that a lot of brands are clearing their throats, and making an attempt at giving the genre an emphatic swansong. At least that’s how I’m looking at the newly unveiled BMW M5 CS.
The Bavarian firm claims it to be the most powerful car it’s ever produced, and the numbers are suitably staggering. It features a familiar 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8, but output has been jazzed up to a monstrous 627hp (468kW), with torque rated at 750Nm. That’s a healthy slab more oomph than the standard M5’s 412kW/680Nm, and also naturally more than the M5 Competition’s 466kW/750Nm. Just.
The eight-speed and rear-biased all-wheel drive from standard M5s also feature here, but are still good enough to help it break the 100km/h barrier in just 2.9 seconds (two tenths quicker than the Competition), with a top speed of 306km/h following.
Because the CS is based on the Competition, it gets all of the same additional performance fruit. This includes the stiffer engine mounts, springs, and anti-roll-bar combination, plus lower ride height. The CS adds a more performance orientated calibration to its Dynamic Damper Control system on top, plus four Pirelli P Zero tyres.
Perhaps as big a change as any is the exterior. On first glance it might look like an ordinary M5, but BMW has swapped out quite a few panels for carbon-fibre reinforced plastic. The roof, bonnet, front splitter, diffuser, and rear spoiler are now all many of the low-weight material. With some of the sound proofing also getting kiboshed, the CS ends up weighing 104kg less than the M5 Competition.
Apart from a different-coloured roof, bystanders can identify M5 CS models via their gold bronze grille and similarly colours 20-inch wheels, plus a ventilated hood, and headlights tinged with yellow (because racecar).
Other tweaks? Well, buyers get a cabin featuring black Merino leather with Mugello Red highlights (those M5 lights under the headrests are back, too). The back seat is now made up of two individual seats instead of a three-wide bench arrangement, and a more minimalist centre console has been drafted.
Local availability hasn’t been confirmed. BMW has said that they’ll only produce the M5 CS for a single model year, meaning that it’ll undoubtedly be an object of interest for Bimmer collectors around the world — if not from launch then certainly in years to come.
