If the latest BMW M5 subscribes to the ‘more is better’ approach - more power, more tech, more configurability than ever before - then it sort of tracks that modifying it might become a big deal. Give people the most, and they’ll want more. Whether saloon or Touring, whether painted black as coal or yellow as custard, there’s no avoiding a car of such presence; whatever you’ve driven before, an M5 is going to feel fast. So maybe just ramping up those attributes further was always going to happen a lot.
Certainly it seems unlikely that Swiss company Dahler’s new Competition Line range of upgrades for the G90 and G99 will be the last offered. If M cars aren’t going to be subtle, maybe they can be hugely OTT. But this isn’t just style over substance; the 22-inch (!) wheels are forged, and Dahler offers its own coilover suspension to go behind them, adjustable in compression and rebound for high- and low-speed. A set of lowering springs are available for those wishing to add a bit of attitude without entirely binning the standard suspension.
The ride height drop makes it look like more has been added to the bodywork, but this Competition Line actually only boasts a new three-piece carbon front spoiler lip. Which now looks like it might struggle with the incline in the photos, let alone a real road, but like the R44 saloon it most certainly ensures extra visual menace. Check out the exhausts, too, with 114mm tailpipes now for a new stainless steel system. That they don’t look enormous here further highlights just what a monster the new M5 is. With a new carbon intake, hopefully the Dahler car delivers a little more V8 roar.
It certainly has the stats to back up having exhausts that gigantic. Thanks to Dahler’s ‘in-house performance enhancement’, which still complies with Euro 6d as well as EU/CH homologation standards - a Swiss company was hardly likely not to - the M5 is now 830hp strong. Or Ferrari 296 power, in fact. Torque is a preposterous 833lb ft, almost 100 points more than the standard car’s 738lb ft.
So even with that infamous kerbweight to shift, this is going to feel usefully faster than factory. There’s more coming, too: ‘For those who are not satisfied with the power of the Stage 1 performance upgrade, a Stage 2 upgrade is already in preparation, which will also include an increase in the factory Vmax limit.’ That limit being 189mph… Where does it end?!
Certainly there won’t be any faster wagons at the ski chalet this winter, so that’s something. And clearly there has to be some pent-up demand for 800hp+ M5s, or Dahler wouldn’t have gone ahead with creating one. If mean and moody is the intended vibe, then they’ve absolutely nailed it. According to Dahler’s website, it’ll cost £1,713.80 plus tax to get the outputs of this car in a regular M5. Not much more than a monthly payment, right? There’s even a G99 ready and waiting in the classifieds for as much horsepower as a 12Cilindri…
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