BMW confirms small M5 35 Years Edition allocation

BMW Group Australia has confirmed that just 10 units of the limited M5 35 Years Edition sports sedan will be available Down Under, with deliveries expected to start by December.

To celebrate the 35th anniversary of M5, only 350 examples of the 35 Years Edition will be produced for global consumption, with the cosmetically enhanced variant based on the M5 Competition, which is currently priced from $229,900 plus on-road costs.

Claimed by the German marque to be based on “the world’s most successful high-performance sports sedan”, the 35 Years Edition takes its unique exterior and interior finishes from the BMW Individual catalogue.

Externally, the 35 Years Edition’s striking Frozen Dark Grey II metallic paintwork “has a special pigmentation to create a silk matte surface impression”, according to BMW, while its bespoke set of 20-inch alloy wheels are finished in Graphite Grey and have a Y-spoke design.

The 35 Years Edition’s brake callipers also get a high-gloss black finish, but if the optional carbon-ceramic discs are fitted, they are instead gold – as per usual.

Inside, full black Merino leather upholstery is contrasted with beige seams, while the carbon-structure aluminium trim finishers are anodised in gold.

The scuff plates are also branded ‘M5 Edition 35 Jahre’, while a build plate located on the cupholder cover is laser engraved with ‘M5 Edition 35 Jahre’ and the car’s build number.

There are no other upgrades to the 35 Years Edition, meaning it carries on with the M5 Competition’s 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 that produces 460kW at 6000rpm and 750Nm of torque from 1800-5860rpm.

These outputs are sent to the ground via a ZF-sourced eight-speed torque-converter automatic transmission and BMW’s rear-biased M xDrive all-wheel-drive system.

As a result, the 35 Years Edition can sprint from standstill to 100km/h in 3.3 seconds and 200km/h in 10.8s.

For reference, the M5 Competition’s claimed fuel consumption on the combined cycle test is 10.6 litres per 100 kilometres, while carbon dioxide emissions have been tested at 242 grams per kilometre.

Sales of the mechanically related 5 Series have improved significantly this year, with 480 examples sold to the end of April – a 67.8 per cent improve over the 286 deliveries made during the same period in 2018.

As a result, 5 Series is now the best-selling model in the $70,000-plus large-car segment, outpacing the Mercedes-Benz E-Class (471 units) and CLS (90), Maserati Ghibli (48), Audi A7 (40) and Jaguar XF (20), among others.