635hp from the most powerful car in BMW M history, 70kg lighter than standard, ‘limited units’ coming to Singapore Q3 2021 

BMW M has announced the most powerful car it’s ever offered for sale in the form of the limited-edition and extra-high-performance BMW M5 CS. 

Based on the recently-facelifted BMW M5, which is also due in Singapore this year, the ‘CS’ model gives the car a raft of weight-saving measures and extra-tasty bits, plus a mild bump to horsepower. 

But how much will it cost, and how many are coming to Singapore?

The M5 CS will cost at least S$700,000 with COE, by our reckoning. The pre-facelift M5 Competition cost S$530k with COE here, that was in February 2020 with a lower COE level too. In Germany, the M5 CS costs 180,000 Euros, a significantly higher price than the 130,000 Euro asking price for an M5 Competition.

Here’s what you need to know about the just-launched M3 Competition and M4 Competition in Singapore

BMW Asia says a ‘limited number’ are coming here, which could mean less than 20. BMW M hasn’t said how many of the M5 CS are being produced in total, but if we reference the M2 CS, 2,200 were built worldwide, and less than 10 came here.

If you have to ask though, you’re probably already too slow on the draw. To date, there’s been an M2 CS (sold out here), an M3 CS (didn’t come to SG), and an M4 CS (also sold out here).  

Visually, BMW M offers three colours for the car, Brands Hatch Grey metallic, and two BMW Individual metallic matte colours, Frozen Brands Hatch Grey and Frozen Deep Green (shown here). 

The M5 CS also brings a little shine to things with yellow and gold highlights on the outside. The kidney grille liners and M5 CS badge, the vents on the front fenders, and the unique 20-inch forged aluminium wheels are in what BMW M terms ‘Goldbronze’, while the daytime running lights of the laser headlight units are yellow, a reference to endurance and GT racing. 

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The car has a mind-numbing 635hp and 750Nm of torque from its 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 engine, which is 10hp more than the M5 Competition model and enough to qualify the M5 CS as the most powerful road car BMW M has made.

That’s good enough to crack 0-100km/h in three seconds flat, 0.3 seconds quicker than the M5 Comp, and on paper only 0.1 seconds off of the Ferrari F8 Tributo.

The top speed is the same as the regular M5 Comp, an electronically-limited 305km/h. BMW M says the engine mounts are stiffer and the V8 breathes out through a flap-controlled sport exhaust system with stainless steel pipe tips.

Naturally all that power comes at a price, with fuel efficiency of only 11.2L/100km and CO2 emissions of 254g/km (WLTP, average). 

As before, the car has all-wheel drive to help you channel all those raging horses into something resembling sane forward progress, but if you dislike that sort of thing the rear-wheel-drive-only drift mode is still present.

If the regular 600hp BMW M5 is like this to drive in Singapore, we can’t imagine the CS…

There’s plenty of carbon on the CS: The wing mirrors,  front splitter, bootlid spoiler, rear diffuser, and the roof (like the standard car). Notably the entire bonnet, engine intake silencer, and engine cover are now made of the exotic black stuff.

Also, carbon ceramic brakes are standard, shaving off 23kg by themselves. All that helps to account for a significant 70kg weight saving over the standard model, though the M5 CS is still a massive car at 1,825kg without a driver.

BMW M also says it has made significant improvement to the suspension. Overall, it’s stiffer and 7mm lower, with changes to the springs, shocks/dampers, and anti-roll bars. The shock absorbers are borrowed from the M8 Gran Coupe. 

Inside, the sport seats are also made of carbon, though they do retain some comfort with  electronic adjustability, they’re covered in Merino leather and have the logo of the Nurb’ printed on the headrests. The driver also gets a special M Alcantara steering wheel with carbonfibre shift paddles, and the now familiar dual M buttons.

BMW M even says it changed the interior armrest cover and removed the tray underneath for ‘significant weight savings’. Unlike the regular M5 which has five seats, the CS is a four-seater.

CS models are a long time thing for BMW, the BMW 3.0 CS and higher-performance CSL. 

The letters themselves have a few different meanings: CS stands for ‘Club Sport’ or  ‘Coupe Sport’ (depending on the exact model referred to), while CSL is a step-up, ‘Coupe Sport Light’. The latter has yet to make a modern return to BMW M, after the very-limited 2003 E46 M4 CSL, but rumours have that it might do so soon. 

But as BMW M itself states, for the current models, ‘CS’ stands for ‘Competition Sport’: 

“The letters CS have a long tradition at BMW and BMW M. Many fans will know the designation from sports coupés like the BMW 3.0 CS, the 3.0 CSi or the legendary 3.0 CSL competition touring cars from the 1970s. Back then, the abbreviation stood for “Coupé Sport”. In the meantime, CS is the symbol for “Competition Sport”, the designation for exclusive BMW M GmbH models with absolute racetrack suitability. The BMW M2 CS, the M3 CS and M4 CS are a part of this tradition. With the BMW M5 CS, the successful high-performance limousine now also gets an exclusive “Competition Sport” version for extraordinary driving experiences.”

That makes more sense since not all the CS models are coupes, and currently the ‘Competition’ label is used to denote a higher-spec, more powerful variant over base models in the current M lineup.

As a result, BMW M now has cars to offer every level of enthusiast. For example, starting with the base BMW M4 (though that’s not sold here), moving up to the M4 Competition, then the M4 CS, the theoretical M4 CSL, and finally the top-rung M4 GTS.