When BMW launches a new generation of M5 the car world snaps to attention. But this time there’s an extra reason to be excited and it’s the availability of a Touring variant. BMW has offered M5 Tourings in the past, but not since 2010 and never in the US.
We’ll probably have to wait until early next year to try one in North America, but we did get a chance to get behind the wheel of a wagon in Germany where we recently drove this car’s sedan brother. And almost all of what we loved and liked less about the $120,675 sedan is replicated here in the $122,675 Touring.
Which isn’t much of a surprise given that they share the same 4.0-liter V8 PHEV drivetrain that makes the same 717 hp (725 PS) and 738 lb-ft (1,000 Nm) of torque. But we found ourselves falling for the Touring even though it loses ground to the sedan in some areas.
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Slower, not that you’ll have time to notice
Related: We’ve Driven The 2025 BMW M5 Hybrid Sedan
Those areas where it loses ground include its zero to 60 mph (97 km/h) performance, which at 3.5 seconds puts it a tenth behind the sedan (itself two tenths behind the old M5 Competition). And an electric range which BMW North America estimates at the same 25 miles (40 km) as for the sedan with the conventional trunk, but the Munich HQ says is a mile or so worse. Both of those minor demerits are directly related to a 140 lbs (64 kg) increase in curb weight to a huge 5,530 lbs (2,475 kg).
But out on the road, there’s nothing about the way the Touring handles itself that makes you feel like its in any way the poor relation. It still possesses the same razor-sharp steering, the dampers have as near as dammit the same ability to grab hold of that mass when you launch the thing through a series of tricky bends, and the structure feels rock solid. An Audi RS6 or BMW X5 M is nowhere near as much fun to hoon down a good road.
And when you bury the right pedal the kick in the back feels equally immense, whatever the spec sheet says. The 194 hp (197 PS / 145 kW) motor inside the eight-speed automatic transmission functions like a warm-up act for the two turbochargers, then hangs around once they’re spooled up to make the scenery go really blurry. The stock limiter calls time at 155 mph (240 km/h) and the M5 gets there so fast you can see why some German buyers might be tempted to pay for the optional 190 mph (305 km/h) limiter. You can get the same option in the US too, though it’s hard to see the point.
More stylish than the sedan?
Those areas in which the Touring is outpointed by its sedan brother do not include the way it looks. We love the new M5 sedan’s flared fenders, something never seen on the model before, and a feature that ensure it’ll never again be mistaken for a regular 5-Series. But the Touring looks every bit as good, those stretched arches working just as well on the shooting brake body. And you just know that it’s going to turn heads because the M5 is the only 5-Series/i5 car offered in America with long-roof styling.
Rivals are roomier
The trunk opens to reveal a wide load area with no stepped lip and a floor that’s dead flat apart from a small, but potentially annoying lump on either side adjacent to each rear wheel. The rear seats split and fold, dropping them entirely increasing the ordinarily 17.7 cu-ft (500 liters) of available cargo space to around 57.6 cu-ft (1,631 liters). An Audi RS6 and BMW’s own X5 M both offer a little more room, but this is still a versatile enough package to make you think BMW ought to bring in some non-M 5-Series wagons.
From the driver’s seat you’re almost entirely oblivious to the reconfigured rear bodywork. The dashboard with its curved instrument cluster and touchscreen combination is no different to what you might get in a regular 5-Series, but the M5 sets itself apart with an M steering wheel, M-specific red starter button and M-branded iDrive dial. You also get a great set of sports seats that deliver enough support for a trackday and enough comfort to handle a six-hour interstate business trip.
Not a direct M3 Touring substitute but a great all-rounder
Those two usually very opposite characters are what BMW has always tried to provide with the M5. The new M5 sedan pushes the boundaries further in each direction, while the Touring adds a third trajectory courtesy of the Touring’s cargo bay. It’s a different, more luxurious kind of car to the smaller, lighter M3 Touring so might not completely pacify US drivers still smarting from BMW’s decision not to bring that model to North America.
But as a do-everything family rocket that’s more entertaining, more distinctive and less expensive than a performance SUV, the M5 wagon looks like the perfect answer to the “if you could only have one car” question that car guys love to ponder.
