BMW M5 Competition replaces standard M5 in Australia

BMW Australia has removed the standard BMW M5 from its range to leave the new BMW M5 Competition as the sole M5 available to buyers.

Australians’ love of higher-spec cars is cited as the reason for this move, where BMW Australia sees only a small percentage of sales for the standard specifications – as do most premium manufacturers.

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“The decision was taken to import the M5 Competition from its start of production and make this the focus point going forward,” A BMW Australia spokesperson tells MOTOR.

“That’s another way of saying yes, it will be the only M5 available on the Australian market from this point, with all 50 of the Launch Edition batch already sold.”

The Launch Edition was announced almost immediately after the new M5 was officially confirmed for Australia, itself a special edition of the M5 priced at the standard car’s value.

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“BMW wanted to get the immediate impact of the Launch Edition from launch, at an unprecedented price under $200K for the performance, specification and depth of ability on offer.”

The reasoning here seems to be that if BMW Australia had waited for the Competition to be announced before taking customer orders, excitement for the model would have died down somewhat before the books opened.

Customers who were set on the Compeition would likely have known to wait for its almost-inevitable arrival.

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“For the previous-gen M5 Competition Package, as well as the M3 and M4 Competitions, the take rate has exceeded 80 per cent,” the BMW spokesperson says.

“So there is a precedent in this market from our perspective – we haven’t offered the ‘standard’ 317kW M3/M4 for a few months now as a result.”