This is the limited-edition BMW M5 35 Years

It’s 2019, which means it’s been 35 years since the very first BMW M5 went on sale. And what better way to honour that anniversary than with a special edition of today’s ludicrously powerful M5 Competition?

BMW will build 350 ‘M5 Edition 35 Years’, beginning this July. There’s no word on how many will reach the UK in right-hand drive, nor how much they’ll cost. History tells us it’ll be 35 cars or so, for perhaps £20,000 more than a standard, £96,205 M5 Competition. Yikes. 

Your money doesn’t buy you any mechanical upgrades – just aesthetic ones. So, like the Competition, the 35 Years gets a twin-turbo 4.4-litre V8 with 616bhp and 553lb ft – enough for 0–62mph in 3.3 seconds and a top speed of 190mph (with the M Driver's pack) – that powers all four wheels through an eight-speed automatic gearbox.

You can read our review of the mechanically identical M5 Competition by clicking on these words.

What you do get is special paint. Matte-finish BMW Individual Frozen Dark Grey paint, to be precise, plus new 20-inch alloy wheels and brake calipers in either black or gold.

Things get more interesting inside, which sees the debut of BMW’s ‘aluminium carbon structure gold anodised’ trim. There’s also the finest black leather with beige contrast stitching and many, many badges.

What do you reckon?