The F90 BMW M5 is a fabulous machine. The M5 Competition is better. Tangibly and sparklingly better. It’s not that it’s just quicker in a straight line, but that it’s so much more precise, predictable and fun through corners. Has there been a better time to be a buyer of sophisticated muscle cars? Buyers have a choice of the BMW M5 and its perennial arm-wrestling foes, the Mercedes-AMG E63 or the Audi RS6/7. It’s the way hot car makers are finding niches, like mainstream brands have done.

For the M division it means the F90 M5 has just become a mini range, topped by the M5 Competition, and it’s a glorious, bend-belittling odyssey. The M5 Competition will officially be the mid-level version of the M5 family when a limited number of them land in SA in September. There is even talk of an eventual M5 CS, which might be a giggle. For now, the M5 Competition will do a fine job of bringing the heat, with 460kW of power and 750Nm out of its 4.0l, V8 twin-turbo motor. But the Competiti...

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