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2014 BMW F10 M5 LCI Competition Package Review

It's been a while since BMW announced the Competition Package for the BMW F10 M5 LCI model. Even though some people rushed to claim that the ZCP won't actually be felt throughout the car we wanted to wait until the first reviews showed up.
2014 BMW M5 Competition Package 1 photo
Photo: Screenshot from Youtube
Our wait is over, the guys from MotorTrend releasing the first review of the enhanced M5 and posting some interesting thoughts about it. Apart from the obvious, let's look at what the ZCP offers.

First off, you get a 15 HP increase and a broader torque delivery at the top of the RPM counter. These little tweaks not only make this car the most powerful model ever to come out of BMW's assembly lines (575 HP and 680 Nm of torque) but they also make the engine feel kind of the same as a naturally aspirated one, a thing a lot of BMW aficionados were expecting.

The suspension, steering and differential have all also been improved and, when looking at the numbers on paper, might seem like they don't make a difference at all. The real-life test showed otherwise, posting better numbers even than the lighter M6, especially on the track.

Sure, the biggest problem remains and that is the weight. Unfortunately, at the moment, it seems like BMW won't do anything about it but signs for the future are promising, in the shape of the M3 and M4. Who knows, maybe the next M5 will follow.

Another issue is the sound the engine makes. It's not nearly as aggressive as it should be and don't even get us started on Active Sound. Still, it's a deep growl that is instantly recognizable, just not loud enough.

Overall, the ZCP M5 feels better and drives better. It's a big step towards what the F10 M5 should've been in the first place. Now... if it had just a tad less weight on it, we might've named it the car of the year.

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