Yahoo Autos The 2025 BMW M5 Touring Is More M5, in a Good Way
The BMW M5 is now in its seventh generation, with three of those generations featuring an M5 Touring as part of the product offering. But the 2025 BMW M5 Touring represents the first time ever you can get an M5 wagon in these United States. You have yourselves to thank for this welcome development, because lots of dealer and consumer interest made it happen. And this groundswell came about early enough that the latest M5 Touring is not being introduced midstream a year or two into the M5's latest reign, but right out of the gate.
Believe it or not, the Touring is not markedly different from the M5 itself. In fact, it shares almost all major dimensions. It has the same 118.3-inch wheelbase, which is no surprise, and it's just as wide. The roof is a few tenths of an inch taller at 59.7 inches, but it's surprisingly the same length as an M5 sedan, at 200.6 inches. The result is an M5 with a rear hatch and 58 cubic feet of maximum cargo capacity, a seriously quick machine that is much cooler looking than any SUV you could ever dream of.
The Touring owes its posterior-hoisting speed to a carryover M5 powertrain. That means a twin-turbocharged 4.4-liter V-8 that makes 577 horsepower and 553 pound-feet of torque, which is supplemented by a permanent-magnet electric motor that makes 194 hp and 207 pound-feet of grunt. The electric motor is mounted within the confines of the eight-speed automatic transmission, so it drives through the same output shaft. Because the motive sources' power and torque peaks don't match up, that adds up to combined output of 717 horsepower and 738 pound-feet of torque, which is a colossal amount. But that's not all. There's a 14.8-kWh lithium-ion battery pack under the floor that has more than enough capacity to supplement the engine's power and make turbo lag a forgotten memory all day long, or it can drive the car on electricity alone for an estimated 25 miles at speeds up to 87 mph. If you charge the M5 Touring daily and drive it in Electric mode it can be an EV runabout during mundane errands yet turn into an all-out monster when driven in Hybrid Sport mode.
Indeed, the M5 Touring connected the dots in rural Germany with the same gusto as the M5 sedan. We couldn't tell the difference when racing between hamlets, the estimated 140-or-so pounds of extra weight fading into insignificance. The rear-chassis bracing is unique—amounting to a crossbar, an underbody shear panel, and extra stiffening elements in the luggage compartment—but ultimately not that heavy. The springs and Adaptive M dampers have been retuned, but only tweaked enough to account for the modest weight increase and the subtle rearward shift in weight distribution that comes with it. The goal with each minor change is to deliver the same driving character, and it absolutely does. It turns in with the same precision as the sedan. The M5 Touring arcs toward apexes and carves through corners with minimal body roll. The 285/40ZR-20 front and 295/35ZR-21 rear summer performance tires offer the same prodigious grip.
That's not to say we didn't notice any difference, because there is a slight alteration to the character of the sound as perceived in the cabin. Once in a while there's perhaps a bit more bass quality to the road noise coming from behind when the rear suspension rides over a speed bump, and the exhaust note is maybe a bit throatier in the Touring than the sedan. It's subtle, and those not driving the two back to back might never notice it, but for the most part we preferred the note of the M5 Touring.
Inside, the front environs are exactly the same as the sedan. There's no difference in the instrument panel screen, nothing to distinguish one infotainment screen form the other, and not a single variation in the controls. There are still up to five different drive modes: Hybrid, Electric, eControl, and if you buy the optional M Drive Professional package, Dynamic and Dynamic Plus for circuit use. Likewise, the same three submodes for the drive configuration are present: Comfort, Sport, and Sport Plus. The xDrive system can still be set to 4WD, 4WD Sport, or 2WD mode, the latter only available when DSC is fully deactivated. In the back seat, however, the experience is slightly different. Everything ahead of your hips is the same, and the amount of rear legroom is identical. But the headroom is just slightly better because of the extra clearance of the long roof, the rear seat features a 40/20/40 split with a pass-through, and there's nothing but open space behind you.
Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the wagon is its price. The 2025 BMW M5 Touring starts at $122,675, which is only $2000 more than the M5 sedan. Chicken feed. If you want a wagon as bad as BMW thinks you do, you have no reason not to pony up for the 2025 BMW M5 Touring.
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