Limited edition, 592-horsepower M5 to celebrate car’s 30th anniversary

BMW recently celebrated the M5’s 30th anniversary by doing a few doughnuts with the current model, but it wasn’t content with merely reminiscing and ruining a few tyres. The Munich manufacturer has “surprise” plans to produce an even more beastly M5 celebrating the car’s 30th birthday. It’s being called the M5 Anniversary Edition.

According to leaked reports spotted by Bimmerpost, where BMW vehicles are sacred, the tribute M5 will get even more power, more sex appeal and a select group of extremely happy owners.

Only 300 special vehicles will be produced and will feature a beefed up version of Munich’s 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8, pushing out a hefty 592HP. That is around 32HP more than the standard model and annoyingly, for those who splurged on the performance-orientated Competition Package, 17HP more. The tweaked power unit, mated to a dual-clutch gearbox, is likely to propel the tribute M5 from standstill to 100km/h in less than the standard car’s already rapid 4.4 seconds.

Aesthetically, the car will flaunt 20″ rims, a few anniversary-themed tribute badges and some understated yet beautiful metallic Frozen Dark Silver paint, not the blue of the Competition Package pictured above.

The tribute version is far cry from the original car, launched in 1985. Back then, the stately sedan was seen as a subtle “incognito version of a sports car.” Hurtling from 0 to 100km/h in around 6.5 seconds, it was elegant, advanced and ridiculously expensive. In fact, it headed the manufacturer’s priciest vehicle list back then.

BMW will hope the Anniversary Edition sees future iconic status like its grandfather, through the slightly more obnoxious route of power, power and more power.

Competition to own one of these vehicles will be fierce, but BMW has yet to announce where the 300 units will be shipped. Expect an official announcement from BMW at the company’s M Festival in June later this year with production rumoured to begin a month later.