ANYONE who has driven the current BMW M5 and used even an ounce of its prodigious potential is unlikely to have come away thinking the car was a bit slow and underpowered, writes William Scholes.
But in case anyone is unhinged enough to ask for a four-door super-saloon with even more oomph and focus, BMW has the answer - an über-über-5 Series, if you like.
Called the M5 CS - denoting 'Clubsport', in BMW-speak, which makes it sound like it's up for a night's post-Covid clubbing - this brute-in-a-suit rocks up as the fastest and most powerful M production car yet.
Its warmed-up version of the M5's 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 sports 626bhp - 9bhp up from the 'regular' M5 Competition, and the sort of figure that would be respectable in the supercar paddock.
Top speed is electronically limited to 189mph; the 0-62mph sprint is over in 3.0 seconds, 0-124mph in 10.4 seconds.
There's an eight-speed automatic gearbox and the four-wheel-drive system can be switched into a rear-drive mode - which, past experience with the M5 tells me, is ideal for a bit of drifting...
A series of mechanical and cosmetic changes further set the M5 CS apart. It's a strict four-seater, for example, with two individual bucket seats in the back.
It's 70kg lighter than the regular M5, too. There's a redesigned oil pan and indirect charge air cooling, revised spring ratings for the engine mounts, carbon ceramic brakes, lashings of carbon fibre trim and, thanks to new dampers, the car sits 7mm lower.
Setting the car apart visually is the choice of a bronze-gold colour for the wheels and elements such as the 'gills' in the front wings.
The M5 CS will stand out in the dark too - not only because it has laser headlamps, but also because the running lights glow yellow instead of white. This, says BMW, ought to bring "successful GT racing cars to mind". So there.
It is a fine looking car, particularly when compared with much of BMW's recent output.
At just over £100k, the standard M5 Competition is hardly a cheap car, but the CS version costs almost 40 per cent more, with a £140,780 price tag.
On the face of it, it seems unlikely that the CS will be 40 per cent better than the 'normal' M5. Its stiffer suspension alone may actually make it worse in the real world.
But for those who want 'more, more, more', it should be just the laser-lighted ticket.
