BMW M5 30th anniversary details

UPDATE: BMW confirms 600hp and limited run of 300 units for celebratory 30th edition M5

By Matt Bird / Wednesday, 7 May 2014 / Loading comments

UPDATE: So it turns out, perhaps unsurprisingly, that the details leaked about the M5 30 Years were entirely correct. 600hp, 516lb ft and 300 cars have today been confirmed by BMW.

Just in case you'd forgotten what you'd bought into

Anything new then? Well yes actually, including a 3.9-second sprint to 62mph and identical MPG and CO2 stats to the standard car (28.5mpg and 231g/km). BMW says the additional power has been achieved through "tweaks to the engine management and an increase in charge pressure."

BMW claims the M5 30 Years is "much more than merely a stylish anniversary version of the segment-founding high-performance saloon - it represents a new high point in 30 years of success." But of course the stylish aspect hasn't been ignored. The '30 Jahre' badges being considered have made it to the wing vents, and the badge in front of the passenger seat sits on a strip of 'Aluminium Trace' trim. Of course it's nothing more than decoration, but the Alcantara M wheel does look especially nice.

There's still no word on final pricing or UK availabilty for the 30 Years M5 though. You'll be the first to here when they're announced!

More pictures below.

Comp pack part of 'forced combination'. Right

ORIGINAL STORY: Info has begun to emerge across the internet of a 30th anniversary edition of the BMW M5. Through

E28

E34

E39

, E60 and

F10

generations it has established itself as the de facto supersaloon of choice, even if rivals have closed the gap recently.

If the details that have been leaked so far are accurate, the M5 '30 Jahre' should be a car more than worthy of the occasion. Based on the Competition Package version, it brings more power (600hp, now more than twice the output of an E28) and another 14lb ft of torque, now 516lb ft. Otherwise it's mechanically identical to the Competition, but then that's hardly a bad place to start.

Of course there are plenty of cosmetic trinkets to mark the anniversary M5 out. The exterior includes sill badges, wheels in jet black/polished aluminium and Frozen Dark Silver paint as the only colour choice. Additional badging is said to be 'under consideration'.

Unique to the anniversary car inside are the embossed seats, alcantara wheel and small badge above the glovebox. The latter suggests 300 M5s will be built to this spec but there's nothing confirmed on that yet.

Given there's an M Festival at the Nurburgring next month, it seems likely the M5 30 Years will make its debut there. Production will apparently commence for four months between July and November. As soon as anything official is announced, we'll keep you updated. Meanwhile, a quick peruse of the classifieds reveals the earliest standard F10s are already less than £40K. Just 560hp will have to suffice here though.