Something a lot of people had a problem with when the F10 M5 came out was the sound the S63 engine made and that hasn’t changed at all throughout its production span. Now that the new F90 M5 is out and using a revised version of the same engine some are wondering how it sounds, compared to its predecessor. Of course, those who haven’t seen or heard one in real life would be the most curious but we’re also interested in hearing the difference between the standard model and the Competition one.

BMW says that the M5 Competition has a Sports exhaust, which would mean that the two versions of the M5 should sound noticeably different. Of course, the Competition model is differentiated from the standard M5 by more than just that. You get a different suspension setup and, most importantly, a small bump in power, from 600 HP to 625 HP, while torque remains the same. Getting back to the sound, the Competition version does have a meaner growl, a deeper tone overall and some rather nice pops and bangs.

The Competition M5 might not be on par with a Mercedes-AMG offering, more specifically the E63 S, when it comes to the sound but how about an M5 fitted with an Akrapovic exhaust? Luckily, we also have one such car in the footage below so we can compare. The Slovenian company is known around the world for offering some of the best exhaust systems money can buy for both cars and bikes. Their offerings are usually made of titanium and cost a little fortune.

In the footage below, we can hear the two exhaust systems going head-to-head, with an edge, in our opinion, for the Akrapovic system.