BMW’s M3 Touring suddenly has a serious rival for our dream one-car garage affections: the M5 Touring. The automaker today confirmed that it was resurrecting the wagon body style for the upcoming M5 and says it’ll be on sale in 2024 alongside the sedan.
Unlike the M3 Touring, which was an idea BMW M toyed with in the past but never put into production until now, the M5 has been offered in Touring guise a couple of time before, first in the 1990s, and then with V10 power in the 2000s. But the new car will be the first M5 wagon to feature hybrid power and all-wheel drive.
A handful of teaser images show a disguised prototype of the 2025 M5 Touring from a couple of angles, and also a finished, undisguised car under a car black cover. They hint at a handsome wagon with a more upright tail than the new E-Class wagon, a prominent roof spoiler, subtly swollen fenders and M’s trademark quad exhaust tips.
While arch-rival Mercedes is believed to be planning to downsize the E63 to six cylinders, the M5 is keeping a V8 between its shock towers. The 4.4-liter S63 V8 is carried over from the current 617 hp (626 PS) car, but boosted by an electric motor. BMW M sources say the package is good for around 790 hp (800 PS) and 737 lb-ft (1,000 Nm), according to Autocar.
Related: 2025 BMW M5 Plugs Into The Future With Aggressive Looks And Electrified Powertrain
Although we’ve spotted prototypes of the M5 sedan multiples times already, BMW says the first M5 wagon test cars are only just about to start their work and will be put through their paces on the urban streets, country roads and autobahns close to Munich and M’s Garching base in the coming days. Then it’s off to the Nurburgring to make sure the bespoke suspension tune the heavier, bendier wagon wagon needs delivers the right combination of ride and handling.
The big question on the lips of North American BMW fans is whether or not BMW will sell the M5 Touring in the U.S. and Canada. Neither of the two previous generations of M5 Touring were offered in America and the region was disappointed to learn that it wouldn’t be getting the M3 Touring sold in Europe.
We suspect the answer hinges on whether BMW decides to import the regular 5-Series wagon to the U.S., something it declined to do with the current Five. If the ordinary 5-Series Touring isn’t part of the plan it might be hard to justify the expense of certifying the 5-Series Touring shell just for the sake of selling a few hundred M5s each year. But we remain hopeful that both cars get the green light.
