BMW hoons M5 | video

All the German prestige brands will tell you there is no power war between them. But if not outright war, there are at least some continual skirmishes -- not least between the Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG and its Bavarian counterpart, the BMW M5.

When the Mercedes lifted its power to 430kW, BMW responded by upping the then-412kW to 423kW, with the 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 also delivering a whamming 680Nm of torque (still outgunned by the E63's 800Nm), and a 0-100km/h time of 4.2 seconds, just 0.1 behind the Merc.

So what can you do with all that power, performance and dynamic ability? Let it off the chain in a bullring, according to this BMW footage. We see the M5 trucked into a remote location and locked into the ring to snort and blaze its way through a few doughnuts -- oddly with just a couple of security guards as the target audience.

Of course, you can't keep a wild animal caged, so the M5 busts out and assumes its more mild-mannered executive conveyance disguise, cruising off most likely heading back to its natural habitat of leafy suburbs and cafe strips.

This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott

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