BMW M5 Touring: 727hp super-estate revealed
August 15, 2024 by Tom Wiltshire
Car changing is a big deal
BMW’s first M5 estate for 14 years is a plug-in hybrid with ferocious performance
- New M5 Touring follows on from saloon revealed in June
- Plug-in hybrid engine with 727hp
- Capable of 0-62mph in 3.6s…
- … but official fuel consumption of 141mpg
- Useful 500-litre boot
- Sits above popular M3 Touring in BMW’s range
BMW last built an estate version of its M5 super-saloon in 2010 – and only 1,000 of these were sold. This makes the new 2024 M5 Touring a big deal.
Building on the same ingredients as the M5 Saloon, BMW clearly hopes that the huge success of the smaller M3 Touring will translate into a larger model. Super-estate alternatives include the Audi RS6, which is in its twilight years, and the Mercedes-AMG E-Class range – which has yet to be crowned by its M5-rivalling E63 variant.
We’ve got all the details here.
BMW M5 Touring design
For the front two-thirds, the M5 Touring is identical to the M5 saloon revealed earlier this year. This means you get an aggressive look with wider bodywork than the standard 5 Series and a chunky front bumper that sits low to the road.
The M5 Touring is littered with vents and aerodynamic additions – all of which are functional. The effect on the grille is a rather messy collection of air intakes and ugly plastic slabs, but you do get an illuminated grille surround to distract you from this.
Down the side, you’ll find the same flared arches and beefy side skirts as the regular M5, as well as the same alloy wheels – 20 inches at the front and 21 at the rear.
The changes come behind the rear doors, where the M5 Touring dons a practical estate rear.
To distinguish it from the regular 5 Series Touring and all-electric i5 Touring, though, there’s a particularly aggressive roof spoiler, new rear bumper, and rear diffuser. Not forgetting the quad-exit exhaust, making the rear of the M5 Touring extremely eye-catching indeed.
BMW M5 Touring: engine and performance
No surprises here – the M5 Touring gets the same mighty plug-in hybrid powertrain as the regular M5. That means a combination of a 4.4-litre V8 pushing out 585hp and 750Nm of torque just on its own, and an electric motor that produces an additional 197hp and 450Nm of torque.
Due to the engine’s different power curves, you can’t simply add these figures together for a full picture of power. The important number is a combined output of 727hp and 1,000Nm of torque.
If you doubted the M5’s big sibling status over the M3 Touring, that car manages ‘just’ 510hp and 650Nm. The Mercedes-AMG E53 Estate, which is the most powerful Mercedes E-Class currently available, has 612hp, while the most powerful Audi RS6 Avant has 630hp.
That power is good for a 0-62mph sprint of 3.6 seconds, and the electronically limited top speed of 155mph can be raised to 189mph with the additional M Driver’s package. That’s actually the same time as an M3 Touring manages, but much of that can be put down to the M5 Touring’s weight.
The regular M5 weighs in at 2,400kg, and while BMW hasn’t announced just how heavy the M5 Touring is yet it’d be fair to assume that it’s a little heavier than the saloon due to its additional bodywork.
Plug-in hybrid system
So why all the weight? Well, BMW is keen to make the M5 Touring a proper usable hybrid. Some performance plug-in hybrids, such as the Mercedes-AMG C63, have comparatively tiny batteries that only give you a few miles of all-electric running. However, the M5’s 18.6kWh pack means you can creep around using the electric motor alone for up to 40 miles.
That should make the M5 Touring a very usable daily driver, provided you have the facility to charge it regularly. You’ll also be able to make the most of the motor’s electric boost for much longer. Not to mention, with official CO2 emissions of just 46g/km, it falls into the 8% bracket for company car tax. Something to think about if you’re a CEO with a go-faster streak…
BMW M5 Touring chassis and suspension
Again, no surprises here if you followed the announcement of the M5 saloon. The M5 Touring has lowered and stiffened M Sport suspension, as well as significant bracing to make the car’s body more rigid. For the Touring, there’s specific bracing used under the floor of the luggage compartment to cope with the loss of rigidity from having essentially a big empty box on the back.
As with the saloon, rear-wheel steering is fitted as standard to improve low-speed manoeuvrability and high-speed stability.
New BMW M5 Touring: interior
It’s a similar story here to the car’s exterior – that is, you don’t really see any changes from the regular M5 until you reach the rear portion of the car.
There’s the same pair of screens as you get on all 5-Series models, a 12.3-inch driver information display and a 14.9-inch infotainment display set underneath one seamless piece of glass. You get supportive sports seats, red accents throughout the interior and an M-specific steering wheel with two driving mode switches on the shoulders.
But the allure of buying the M5 Touring has to be the boot. Not only do you get a useful 500 litres of space, but the rear seats fold down in a 40:20:40 split for maximum configurability – allowing you to carry two passengers with long items in between them, for example. Folding the seats down flat frees up 1,630 litres of space.
That’s slightly more space than you get in the E53 (460 litres) but the 565-litre Audi RS6 Avant beats both of these.
In keeping with the everyday usability theme, an electric tailgate is standard and you can even get the M5 with a tow-hitch – it can tow up to 2,000kg, so presumably we’ll see it setting the caravan land speed record before too long.
New BMW M5 Touring: how much is it?
The BMW M5 Touring will go on sale very soon, and prices start from £113,405, making it around £2,000 more expensive than the saloon. This is in line with the smaller M3 and M3 Touring, which also have a similar price gap.
BMW will doubtless be hoping that the M5 Touring performs well in the market. The M3 Touring – the first estate M3 ever – now accounts for nearly half of M3 sales, as its more practical tailgate opens it up to use as a family car far more than a compromised saloon opening does.
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