When the facelift for the current BMW M5 came out, so did a new, extremely expensive option called ‘the Competition Package’. At a first glance, it didn’t bring much to the table and people were often wondering whether it was worth the trouble. If you’d purchase it for daily driving purposes, it was rather obvious you’d be well off without spending the extra money. On the track though, things were completely different.
The $7,300 option doesn’t just bring an increase of 15 HP in the total output of the car and some nice new 20″ wheels. The complete list of changes includes stiffer stabilizer bars, new axle bushings, a 10mm drop in ride height along with stiffer dampers, a new steering system, a different setting for the rear differential, allowing greater slippage and a new exhaust. All of that will make itself noticed on the track, without a doubt.
But how about in the most popular type of racing out there? The drag race. Well, the Competition Package M5 should have the upper hand as well here thanks to the extra 15 HP but how much of a difference can such a small increase actually make? We’re guessing not a lot and that’s why BMW also decided to make some changes regarding torque on the CP-fitted models.
While the torque figure stayed the same, both cars having 501 lb-ft (680 Nm) of torque to rely on, they did change the way it is delivered, to offer the upper hand to those willing to spend $7,300 more. That way, while the peak torque figure is reached at 5,750 RPM in the standard M5, the Competition Package version will tap out at 6,000 RPM. Even so, we didn’t expect the difference between the two to be as big as you can see in the video below. Check it out!
