Yahoo Autos Tested: 2025 BMW M5 Touring
For the past couple of years American BMW fans have watched with envy as other parts of the world got to enjoy the M3 Touring, a car not sold in the U.S. The regular 3-series Touring body style isn't federalized, and it didn't make sense for BMW to crash-test it just to sell a few M3s. For a while it looked like the M5 wagon might also be denied a visa for the same reason.
But the M5's papers are in order, and it makes its debut for the 2025 model year alongside the seventh-generation M5 sedan. The Touring's most obvious rival is the Audi RS6 Avant, but BMW will also be hoping to steal sales from high-performance SUVs like the Porsche Cayenne.
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The Lowdown
The BMW M5 has often felt like the default supersedan across four decades, but this will be the first time it will be offered in the U.S. as a station wagon, going some way to make up for the nonavailability of the M3 Touring. Also new for the M5's seventh generation is a plug-in-hybrid powertrain that augments the car's core V-8 with electrical assistance but also pushes the curb weight deep into SUV territory.
Vehicle Tested: 2025 BMW M5 Touring
Base Price: $122,675
Location: Bavaria, Germany
More Specs
Engine: 4395cc turbocharged V-8, hybridized
Power: 717 hp @ 6500 rpm (system peak)
Torque: 737 lb-ft @ 1800 rpm (system peak)
0-62 mph: 3.6-sec
Transmission: Eight-speed auto, all-wheel drive
Weight: 5622 pounds (EU DIN)
EPA MPG: TBC
How Does It Drive?
The M5 has always had a dual character, combining the ability to cruise quietly and to let rip like a supercar. This time the bandwidth is even broader, mostly thanks to the addition of plug-in-hybrid power.
As in the mechanically identical M5 sedan, the M5 Touring's V-8 works in conjunction with a 194-hp electric motor hiding out inside the eight-speed automatic transmission. This is hooked up to a battery under the rear footwell with 14.8 kWh of usable capacity. Together they give the M5 the ability to cruise at up to 87 mph on pure electric power. We don't have a U.S. EV range yet, but on the flattering European WLTP test, BMW is quoting up to 41 miles.
More important, the electric motor also significantly increases output, from the 617 hp and 553 lb-ft peaks of the old M5 Competition up to 717 hp and 738 lb-ft. Performance in EV mode is lethargic, but with the 4.4-liter V-8 running in conjunction with the electrical assistance the M5 Touring is seriously quick—scooting from 0 to 60 mph in 3.5 seconds, according to BMW, just a tenth behind the M5 sedan over the same benchmark.
That still means the Touring is slower than the previous F90-generation M5 sedan, which had an official 3.2-second 0-to-60-mph time, but which managed 2.8 seconds when tested by Car and Driver. That difference is doubtlessly due to the new wagon's 1200 or so pounds of extra weight. For similar reasons Audi's less powerful RS6 Avant Performance is also quicker, dispatching 0 to 60 mph in 3.3 seconds on manufacturer numbers.
The M5 Touring might be tardier off the line, but it is impressively punchy in real-world roll-on situations, the powerful hit of hybrid assistance arriving quickly enough to cover any hint of turbo lag. The wagon has more torque per pound of curb weight than the RS6 Avant, and this a better indication of its real-world reactions than the 0-to-60 blast.
My drive in the 2025 M5 sedan laid to rest any worry that its SUV-rivaling weight had ruined the handling, and the M5 seems to have lost nothing in the conversion to a wagon. I didn't drive the two body variants back to back but did experience the Touring 24 hours after the sedan, on a route from BMW M division's Garching, Germany, base toward the Czech border. The Touring felt every bit as tight and together, as it should because it weighs just 140 pounds—or about 2.5 percent—more than the sedan, with none of that increase over the front end.
Rear-axle steering makes its debut on this generation of M5, here doing the usual trick of turning in the opposite direction to the front wheels at low speeds and then with them when the pace increases. This works so cleanly and instinctively, I soon forgot it was there. What did stand out—and gave me the confidence to really push—was the steering precision, strong front-end grip, and powerful optional carbon-ceramic brakes ($8500) on my test car.
At road speeds, even fast ones, the M5 sticks resolutely at both ends in its default Comfort all-wheel-drive setting. The rear-biased Sport mode is more fun, this being permissive enough to allow a hint of yaw on corner exit. There is also a wilder rear-wheel-drive mode, something no rival AWD wagon or SUV offers, although buyers would be advised to save experimenting with that for the track.
What's It Like To Live With?
The 2025 M5 Touring is the first M5 wagon to make it to America (and the first anywhere in the world since 2010). But more than that, it's the only 5-series Touring you can buy in the U.S. since BMW opted not to import the milder gas versions or the electric i5 wagon.
That exclusivity is guaranteed to earn you kudos everywhere, as will fenders that are flared not only at the front, as on previous M5s, but on the rear, like on the M2 and M3. Some previous M5s have been true sleepers, only subtly distinguished from their regular siblings. But the Touring's widened track and supercar-size rear-diffuser element mean this one has plenty of visual aggression.
Yet from the driver's seat, the M5 Touring feels very much like any other well-equipped 5-series, with only a few giveaways to its performance. There is a red starter button on the console, red M1 and M2 buttons on the steering wheel to store favorite combinations of dynamic settings—there are dozens to choose between—and a great set of bucket seats to remind you of the car's M pedigree. But the slick iDrive infotainment system and control layout are no different to what 550e drivers experience.
The M5 Touring can deliver huge speed, but it is also a true luxury car. The ride isn't as supple as that of the 7-series, but it isolates occupants from all but the craggiest pavement lumps and bumps. Apart from some annoying wind noise around the side-door glass, the Touring cruises quietly at the sort of speeds only legally possible on the derestricted parts of Germany's autobahn network. The XM SUV, which shares the M5's PHEV powertrain but costs considerably more, uses double-glazed windows to reduce that irritation.
The Touring's rear-seat space is good for two—less so for three—but the under-floor-mounted battery pushes passengers' knees up higher than they'll like. No complaints about the trunk space, though. The load floor is flat, and the rear seats fold in three parts to fit tires, mountain bikes, a Home Depot haul, or enough groceries to see you through a family Thanksgiving.
In some other countries the PHEV system will bring financial advantages through tax credits, where the car's lower CO2 rating brings big savings. American M5 Touring buyers won't get any of those, and the car still qualifies for the gas-guzzler tax. Yet the ability to travel on pure electric power will still appeal to many. It boosts refinement in stop-and-go traffic, and even if the true EV range is likely not much more than 20 miles, it will help to cut fuel bills. Some buyers might be able to complete regular journeys entirely on electrical power and never need to wake the V-8, although that would be a terrific waste.
Should I Buy One?
Oh yes. After missing out on the M3 Touring, American buyers should be both pumped and flattered that BMW went to the trouble and expense of gaining approval for the 5-series wagon just to import the M5. It is possible to criticize the increase in weight and slower 0-to-60-mph time, but the M5 Touring is a great package with a huge spread of talents. It's also a compelling alternative to the many high-performance SUV alternatives, including BMW's own XM.
Highlights and Lowlights
We Love:
Handsome design and practicality of the wagon body.
Huge midrange performance.
Clever tech means it handles like a much lighter car.
We Don't:
Tuneless engine noise, boomy fake overdub in cabin.
Slower 0 to 60 than the last-generation M5 sedan, as well as the Audi RS6 Avant.
Favorite Detail:
The Touring's power-operated tailgate is sleek and practical, making the wagon look much more interesting than the conventional M5 sedan. Sadly, unlike older BMW wagons, the rear glass can no longer be opened separately to allow smaller items to be put into the trunk.
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