Are these BMW M5 Performance Parts cool or not?

Like morning follows night, BMW’s incredibly active M Performance Parts team have lobbed a load of stripes and carbon at the freshly updated M5 saloon.

We suspect some of it will divide opinion. On the ‘probably quite welcome’ side of things, we have a more assertive exhaust system and newly tough suspension, which can drop your M5 another 20mm and perhaps help it edge the almighty Mercedes E63. The new, 20in forged alloys look pretty damn good in matt grey, too.

In the ‘some will love it, some will hate it’ category, we have carbon grilles and mirrors, an Alcantara-wrapped steering wheel and a car cover that rather loudly exclaims ‘THERE’S A FAST CAR UNDER HERE’. Which seems rather odd, when choosing this over an identically powered BMW M8 surely suggests you’re looking for something more understated. Same goes for the M tricolours on the flanks and bumpers.

And filed under ‘no comment’ comes tricolour jackets for your spare wheels and the carbon engine cover and fuel filler cap. Unless you’re opening the bonnet and fuel flap at a car meet, who are those really for? Arguably more interesting, though, is that a good chunk of the M5’s Performance Parts are available on the stock 5 Series, including a sports exhaust on diesel engines. So you could make yourself a mock M5 Touring like the car below, should shelling out for an Alpina B5 not float your boat…