The new BMW M5 is the performance driver’s dream – more of everything for less.

EXTRA grip and extra oomph, plus a big lift in driver assist technology – plus a big price cut.

That’s the good news that those considering the new BMW M5 can think about in the lead up to the car’s arrival around April.

BMW New Zealand’s price announcement today for the mega sedan, the first of its lineage to come with all-wheel-drive, leaves just the actual launch date as the last piece of the jigsaw to come. For now, they’re simply saying Autumn.

The sticker is a big surprise: Whereas the old car was a $210,800 ask, the new is now a sub-$200k car. Albeit just: It’s landing for $199,900.

The Auckland-centred distributor is, surprisingly, not crowing loudly about this achievement.

For now, the sole comment out of local brand boss Florian Renndorfer is simply a comment talking the model’s long-time status.

“The BMW M5 has characterised the essence of a high-performance executive sedan for over 30 years”, says BMW Group New Zealand’s managing director said in a release today.

The M5 is the ultimate pick from the new generation Five family, which launched in mainstream formats almost a year ago.

BMW NZ has not had to outgoing M5 since 2016.

The brand’s spokesman for this country, Paul Sherley, told MotoringNetwork some months ago that the fan favour had not cooled and he expected the new car to achieve a good presence.

“Our local share of BMW M sales is one of the highest in the world, and M5 has always been a popular model in the range,” he said then.

“We’ve seen a consistent rate of sales across the lifecycle of the current model, and see even greater interest in the new car.”

Identified by having larger grilles, an aggressive rear valance with a faux diffuser, and the trademark vents in the wings – plus the usual interior refinements of special logoed sports seats and a pair of bright red M buttons on the steering wheel for individually-customized driving modes – the car’s real appeal comes from it again running a twin-turbocharged 4.4-litre V8.

But it makes massively more grunt: 441kW power and 750Nm of torque, which represents a decent increase of 30kW and 70Nm respectively, a lift that spreads over a broader rev band – especially the torque, which thumps in from 1800rpm to 5600rpm.

That much oomph promises a 0-100kmh time of just 3.4 seconds.