M5 Touring has returned after a 14-year absence. Image: BMW
Its return teased sporadically since June last year, BMW has officially revived the M5 Touring, which for now, remains a market uncertainty for South Africa.
Unveiled on Thursday evening (15 August) ahead of its first public showing at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in California this weekend, the first estate M5 since the end of E60 production in 2010, follows its sedan sibling by becoming a plug-in hybrid with more power than its 5.0-litre V10-engine forebearer.
Heading for key markets in November, the Touring’s main difference involves the estate bodystyle, which has added a reported 63 kg to the sedan’s already heavy 2 435 kg mass.
The main benefactor is improved practicality ranging from 500-litres with the rear seats up, to 1 630-litres with the 40/20/40 split rear back folded down.
Dynamically, the CLAR platform has been subtly revised from the M5 Sedan with new front-end strut braces, a stiffer bulkhead plate, and at the rear, more bracing plus model specific uprated underfloor struts.
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Retained from the sedan are the double wishbone at the front and five-link rear suspension, the Adaptive M suspension, Active M differential, M Active Steering, the rear axle steering system and the ability to switch between 4WD, 4WD Sport, and 2WD modes for the xDrive all-wheel-drive system.
As with the sedan, the Touring’s M-light alloy wheels measure 20-inches at the front and 21-inches at the rear, with stopping power coming from the standard M Compound brakes, or the optional M Carbon ceramic stoppers.
Aesthetically identical to its sibling, apart from now being a station wagon, the interior is similarly identical in that it gets the augmented reality Head-Up Display, the Interaction Bar from the 7 Series and the quad-zone climate control.
Also standard are the M steering with the M1 and M2 model buttons, the Merino leather sport seats, an electric tailgate, the 18-speaker, 655-watt Bowers & Wilkins sound system and the M-specific Curved Display consisting of the 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and the 14.9-inch iDrive infotainment system.
Up front, the controversial plug-in hybrid hardware combines the 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8, which develops 430kW/750Nm on its own, with an 18.6-kWh lithium-ion battery pack powering a single 145kW/280Nm electric motor housed within the eight-speed Steptronic gearbox.
Combined, the setup develops 535kW/1 000Nm, 162kW/480Nm more than the E60’s normally aspirated V10 in M mode, which results in a limited top speed of 250 km/h and 0-100 km/h in 3.6 seconds.
As an option, the M Driver’s Package ups the limiter to 305 km/h without impacting the benchmark sprint, which takes a tenth longer than the sedan.
Further fitted with the M Boost mode that releases the full 535kW/1 000Nm in one 10 second burst, the M5 Touring also gets the so-called pre-gearing stage that unlocks an additional 170 Nm from the electric motor for a total of 450 Nm.
Omitted from fast DC charging, the M5 Touring supports AC charging up to 11 kW and comes standard with a 7.4 kW on-board outlet.
The maximum all-electric range is 67 km with emissions-free driving capable at up to 140 km/h.
Unconfirmed for South Africa, as mentioned, despite availability of the M3 Touring being confirmed in limited numbers from 2025, expect BMW to make a formal announcement regarding the M5 Touring within the next few weeks.
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