In the world of super saloons, the BMW M5 is right up there with the very best. The luxury midsize luxobarge has a tremendous amount of power to partially compensate for its hefty weight, and in standard guise it can lap the Nordschleife in just 7 minutes and 38.92 seconds. Some will remember this impressive lap time was achieved last year by the folks from German publication Sport Auto. Why are we bringing this up? Because the very same people have returned to the Green Hell with the meaner M5 Competition.

Thanks to the slightly more power and the other upgrades the Competition has over the standard M5, Sport Auto managed to shave off three seconds from the lap time. They did a lap of the Nürburgring in 7 minutes and 35.90 seconds, which is mighty impressive when you take into account the Competition version weighs 4,370 pounds (1,982 kilograms). In both cases, the M5 was driven by Sport Auto’s Christian Gebhardt, so the comparison between the two lap times is entirely relevant.

As remarkable as the lap time is, the BMW M5 Competition is not the fastest four-door car to do a lap of the challenging Nordschleife. Relevant examples include the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio (7:32), Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S (7:25) and the Lord of the ‘Ring among saloons – the Jaguar XE SV Project 8 with a lap time of 7 minutes and 21.23 seconds. However, the Jag did the record run without the rear seats, so technically, the fastest four-door four-seat car around the track is the AMG.

As fast as the M5 Competition is around the track, logic tells us the upcoming M8 Gran Coupe will be even quicker. The standard version of the 6 Series Gran Coupe replacement will be unveiled before the end of the month, but we will probably have to wait for its M counterpart until early next year. We’re hoping Sport Auto will get its hands on the car to improve the M5 Competition’s lap time, although it will be difficult to beat the GT 63 S.

Let’s keep in mind AMG is cooking an even hotter version of its confusingly called “Four-Door Coupe,” with an 800-bhp GT73 hybrid expected to land in 2020. That might go around the track even faster to claim the undisputed title for the fastest four-door car at the ‘Ring.