To put some numbers behind those claims then: the twin-turbo 4.4-litre V8 is tweaked to give its 635PS best at 6,000rpm, with a redline set at 7,200rpm. That’s 10PS more than the latest M5 Competition, but torque remains the same at 750Nm.
A larger number is the 70kg that BMW M division says it has shaved off the weight of the M5 Competition, itself already lightened over standard M5s sold elsewhere. Carbon-fibre reinforced plastic parts now constitute the bonnet, splitter, mirror housings, diffuser and rear spoiler. New brakes save a bunch of weight too as does having lightweight carbon buckets seats in the rear rather than the normal bench.
More power and less weight mean more accelerative ability for a car already acclaimed for its supercar performance. As you might expect improvements comes in mere tenths of a second – 0-62mph in 3.0 rather than 3.3 seconds, 0-124mph four-tenths faster at 10.4 seconds – but as long as they’re coming down rather than going up we’re happy. The top speed remains restricted to 189mph.