Wednesday, November 13, 2024

The 2025 M5 Touring: At Long Last, a BMW M Wagon Comes to America

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There are few things the 2025 BMW M5 needs more of. Power? It has plenty. Technology? That’s covered, with a plug-in hybrid powertrain and a smorgasbord of tunable engine and chassis settings. Weight? That’s, uh, complicated. But cargo space? Absolutely. If you want to carry cargo, the 2025 BMW M5 Touring adds multitudes of storage options to a car that already contains multitudes.

The long-roof version of the M5 also marks the return of the station wagon to BMW’s American lineup for the first time since the previous 3 Series departed in 2019. In fact, SUV models excluded, no M version of any Bimmer wagon has ever been sold Stateside. Perhaps the product planners in Stuttgart couldn’t let the Audi RS 6 Avant stand as the lone performance wagon entry in the U.S. market.

Whatever the case, the M5 Touring is here. Rear bodywork aside, the biggest change compared to the sedan is the addition of a standard panoramic glass roof. The rest of the specification is the same, including the 717-horsepower plug-in hybrid drivetrain with a peak combined torque of 738 pound-feet. The electric motor is integrated into the eight-speed automatic gearbox, but can also power the car by itself using the 14.8-kW battery pack for approximately 25 miles.

The new powertrain is one factor that contributes to the M5’s hefty curb weight, especially compared to its predecessor. In sedan form, the G90-generation M5 is 1,000 pounds heavier than the previous F90. With the Touring, there’s an additional 140 pounds to haul around, according to BMW’s listed curb weight of 5,530 pounds.

Still, that’s at least 400 pounds less than the XM SUV that shares the basic powertrain, and despite giving up nine inches of height, the M5 overpowers its 683-hp sibling (although the more potent XM Label variant one-ups the new M5) and offers comparable interior storage space. With the rear seats up, the M5 Touring will handle 17.7 cubic feet of luggage, expanding to a maximum of 57.6. That’s around one to six cubic feet less than the XM. The few extra pounds of the wagon takes a tenth off BMW’s estimated 0-60 mph time versus the sedan, but at 3.5 seconds, it’s still in the realm of unfathomably quick.

As with the sedan, the M5 Touring routes power through all four wheels but, depending on drive mode, that power balance can be switched to a rearward bias, or the car can operate purely in rear-wheel-drive mode. Our deep dive into the M5 sedan covers all the details on the performance equipment and various settings.

The M5 Touring goes on sale in the fourth quarter of 2024, with a base price of $121,500 plus $1,175 destination charge for a total of $122,675. In case you were curious, that’s exactly $2,000 more than the 2025 M5 sedan.

Executive Editor Mike Austin has worked as a writer, editor, and occasional video host across titles such as Car and Driver, Autoblog, Popular Mechanics, and Hemmings (plus a few more). Prior to joining Road & Track he finally put his engineering degrees to use as an EV analyst. His personal cars skew slightly oddball, including a 1991 Honda Beat, 2001 Volkswagen Eurovan, 1987 Alfa Romeo Spider, and 2007 Saab 9-3 wagon.

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