BMW M5 Touring review
7
The M5 Touring returns with a tub-thumping V8 PHEV drivetrain
Published:
17 April 2025
- Introduction
- Design & styling
- Interior
- Engines & performance
- Ride & handling
- MPG & running costs
- Verdict
- Introduction
- Design & styling
- Interior
- Engines & performance
- Ride & handling
- MPG & running costs
- Verdict
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I think the most important line to remember about the new BMW M5 Touring came from Dirk Hacker, head of research and development at BMW’s M Division, when he was giving m’colleague Matt Saunders a go in a prototype wagon in 2024.
“We had to remember that the M5 … is a working vehicle, a tool for business and everyday life,” he said.
And I do wonder whether, from time to time, what we – enthusiasts – expect from a BMW M5 is a bit different from what customers expect and from what BMW opts to build.
I’m thinking cars like the V8-powered BMW M3, the E90 of 2007. ‘This isn’t what an M3 is about’, some of us thought at the time about this bigger, heavier M3, as it began its path to becoming (especially in later Competition form) one of our favourite driver’s cars of the past two decades.
Could this bigger, heavier M5, though, be a taste just that takes too much acquiring? Now arriving in estate form the M5 is a plug-in hybrid because a car to do everything and sell everywhere could need an “everything” solution.
https://www.drivenbuy.co.uk/autocar?car_make=bmw&car_model=m5-touring&review=new&source=https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/bmw/m5-touring
Verdict
Model tested:
Rating: 7
BMW M5 Touring
Top-level M-car estate certainly feels its size but has sophisticated body control and a natural affinity for wide, fast roads.
Good
Rapid-fire 4WD/RWD configurability like only the M division can provide
Electric motor ‘torque fill’ makes for huge, accessible pace
Bad
It feels a size too large on some UK roads
Its 2.5-tonne kerb weight is a constant presence
More grown-up and less hair-raising than M5s have been – for good and bad
DESIGN & STYLING
8
Pros
Matches almost any rival as a technological tour de force
Cons
Weighs close to 2500kg in Touring form
The M5 Touring’s belt-and-braces hardware features a beefy 4.4-litre engine that makes 577bhp at 5600-6500rpm on its own, and pairs it with a 195bhp gearbox-mounted motor, with the two of them combining to have up to 718bhp driving all four wheels (or two, if you select the right mode).
To give it a respectable motor-only range of up to 40 miles, the battery is generously sized for a plug-in, at 18.6kWh – a similar size to an original BMW i3’s, which gives you an indication of how far it could push a tiny, lightweight car.
The M5 Touring will be the only 5 Series estate without self-levelling air suspension at the rear, which means that the 18mpg, 150mph caravanning you had in mind is probably best put on ice.
This 5096mm long M5 that can seat five or have up to 1630 litres of luggage capacity is not a tiny, lightweight car. The hardware is bulky and weighty, so it has grown externally to cope; flared arches have made the M5 Touring wider than a regular 5-Series, at 1970mm, 70mm wider than a normal 5 Series.
And when I searched the press bumf for “kg” the only result that came up is that you can put 2000kg on a trailer – a potentially quite useful thing to know, but perhaps more important is the lesser screamed about 2550kg kerbweight – 40kg up on the saloon [EU weight, so including that driver/luggage-imitating 75kg over the DIN figure].
The better news, such as it is, is that when we road tested the M5 saloon, it tipped our scales, fully-fuelled but otherwise empty, at 2373kg. So this wagon is probably more like 2410kg at the kerb.
INTERIOR
9
Pros
Separate physical i-Drive controls to touchscreen
Cons
There is a *lot* of functionality. How much is too much?
Inside the M5 Touring is, as per the saloon, 100% the comprehensive BMW M it ought to be, with figure-hugging, yet comfortable-over-distance seats, the right level of interaction, separate physical controls to the touchscreen and a wildly configurable driving setup – we’ll come on to that. Material grade quality feels very high and fit and finish are excellent.
There’s ample room in the rear too, and the boot is competitively large. One sad point is that the 5-Series doesn’t have the separate opening tailgate glass that we think is so useful (and retained in the 3-Series).
ENGINES & PERFORMANCE
8
Pros
Instant response from motor
Engine sounds good when chipping in
Cons
If it was lighter, it might not need all of this oomph
The M5 Touring is the kind of car that has performance to spare on the road, because its weight can only blunt 700+bhp so much. Even though its power to weight ratio is inferior to the F90 CS of 2021, its willing motor can fill any torque gap the engine leaves, so it’s immediately reponsive.
Getting a good noise out of the 4.4-litre V8 takes winding it up and selecting the right mode to release all of the exhaust sounds, but there is a hidden character in there. If you want to know exaclty how fast an M5 is against the stopwatch, you can find out more in our full road test of the M5 saloon – the wagon should only be a tiny bit slower from a standing start.
RIDE & HANDLING
7
Pros
Tremendously capable in the right places.
Cons
Some fidget on poor surfaces
If one is wondering whether approaching 2.5 tonnes is too much for a driver’s, that’s where it’s useful to remember Dirk’s answer: working vehicle; everyday life. The M2 exists to be the car you’d like an M-car to be. The M5 Touring is a fast way to get places.
Even so, you have to pick your roads carefully in a car like this, on 20in front/21in rear rims and 40/35 profile tyres, when British roads are a) small and b) so dismally surfaced. It is daft – outrageous, perhaps – that potholes and road surface damage should dictate whether you buy an estate car you buy (especially as it encourages SUV take up), but here we are.
On narrow or bad roads, in towns, this Touring, whose ride is, like the saloon’s, a bit fidgety on complex surfaces, is a sometimes stressful and occasionally wince-inducing car. This isn’t strictly its fault, but it’s where we are.
Wider, better roads suit it more. It’s never exactly supple, but it’s certainly settled and poised and this is a stable car, low by most modern standards, with terrific grip and lots of traction, plus rear steering and an active rear differential, it’s a hugely effective way to go places.
MPG & RUNNING COSTS
7
Pros
Actually pretty decent electric range and economy
Cons
Likely harsh depreciation
While some competitor vehicles struggle to do decent electric-only mileage from their PHEV powertrains, in our experience a fully-charged M5 can go 35 miles – enough to entice you to actually charge it in the first place. When the battery has run down but chipping in like a series hybrid, in daily life we still saw 25mpg out of the car.
As I write, the M5 Touring costs £113,000 to buy, and (like rivals) it will likely suffer savage depreciation, but that’s par for the course on big, expensive supersaloons and estates. At least, being a proficient PHEV, there are considerable tax advantages in some markets.
VERDICT
7
Verdict
Model tested:
Rating: 7
BMW M5 Touring
Top-level M-car estate certainly feels its size but has sophisticated body control and a natural affinity for wide, fast roads.
Good
Rapid-fire 4WD/RWD configurability like only the M division can provide
Electric motor ‘torque fill’ makes for huge, accessible pace
Bad
It feels a size too large on some UK roads
Its 2.5-tonne kerb weight is a constant presence
More grown-up and less hair-raising than M5s have been – for good and bad
The right settings in place, the latest M5 Touring is an exceptionally effective car. And even in the wrong settings, it’s still a great place to sit and has immediately responsive performance. In the UK, it’s hard to shift the feeling that is it big and heavy.
And even on the best roads, am I loving it, am I involved, am I truly engaged? Not overtly, but I’m getting places in a very controlled and exeedingly brisk manner. And as BMW’s M division says, it would seem that’s much of the point.
