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Forbidden fruit has finally fallen on our shores! Is the BMW M5 Touring hitting the ground in North America now, for the first time, because it weighs an astonishing 5500 pounds? We jest. BMW watched Audi and its successful RS6 Avant—to say nothing of the outgoing Mercedes-AMG E63—and wanted a piece of the action. Executives in Munich were finally convinced that, after years of SUV dominance, enough wealthy enthusiasts want a high-powered machine packing supercar performance in a more distinctive wagon shape. Longroof lovers that we are, to that we say, prost!
BMW brought its first M5—the E28 generation—to North America in 1986. The first Touring version debuted for the following E34 generation in 1992, but neither it nor the later E61 M5 wagon that came 25 years later ever made it here. This wagon version of the M5 hit North American dealers in late 2024. Within a matter of months, it proved far more popular than BMW anticipated. By March 2025, BMW said that sales were split about 50:50 between the Touring and the sedan, motivating the automaker to adjust its production plans for what it initially predicted would be a 2:1 split in the latter’s favor.
The uncommon style, it seems, is the appeal. The wagon adds only 140 pounds of mass and a $2000 premium—totaling $127,675 including the destination fee and gas guzzler tax—to the sedan’s base price. Same 4.4-liter twin-turbo V-8 and electric motor inside the eight-speed automatic transmission. Same plug-in hybrid system. Same unholy 717 hp and 738 lb-ft of torque sent to all four wheels.
Eric Weiner
Specs: 2025 BMW M5
Price: $121,500/$140,775 (base/as-tested)
Powertrain: 4.4-liter V-8 with twin turbochargers and synchronous AC electric motor; eight-speed automatic transmission
Output: 717 horsepower (engine and e-motor combined); 738 pound-feet of torque
Layout: Front-engine, four-door, five-passenger, all-wheel-drive wagon
Weight: 5530 pounds
0–60 mph: 3.5 seconds
EPA-rated Fuel Economy: 13 mpg combined city/highway; 54 MPGe; 25 miles all-electric range
Competitors: Audi RS6 Avant
If you read editor-at-large Aaron Robinson’s brutally honest review of the 2025 BMW M5 sedan (G90), then you know that the Touring version (G99) suffers from all the same drawbacks. His take: “Gained literally a thousand pounds since the last generation. In some ways just an elaborate simulation and can feel as heavy and robotic as it looks.” That said, like him, we were impressed with M5’s flexibility. Highway missile, Porsche-chasing corner carver, tech-forward showcase with a killer sound system—the M5 is game. The wagon’s additional cargo capacity and practicality only add to the car’s breadth of capability.
Being that your author has not personally driven a current-gen M5 sedan, it would not be fair to tell you that they feel indistinguishable from behind the wheel. But there is no reason to doubt this is the case. Aside from the Touring’s marginally better headroom in the second row, some bracing, slightly better distribution of the aforementioned weight, and tiny suspension tuning tweaks, they are identical.
What separates the two is the statement the Touring makes. Being that it is the only wagon BMW currently sells in North America, seeing one is an event. To be behind the wheel of such a thing, as passing in-the-know enthusiasts point and stare, is to achieve something that many wealthy up-and-comers ultimately seek: status. And buying an M5 wagon instead of an M5 sedan or even an X5 M broadcasts your status as a member of the automotive cognoscenti.
Our test car was a handsome specimen, finished in Marina Bay Blue metallic paint with a silver-and-black interior fitted in extended Merino leather. In sedate colors, it doesn’t draw general attention the way a 911 or Corvette does, but the M5 wagon’s dramatic lines and sharp, chunky proportions lend it far more presence than an Audi RS6 Avant. In that respect, it’s less of a sleeper.
Adding up the various options packages (Driving Assistance Professional, Executive, M Driver’s) along with the $8500 carbon-ceramic brakes and a few other odds and ends brings the MSRP to $140,775. If you’ve got a big budget but only room in the garage for one car, the M5 Touring makes a strong case. It can comfortably haul a family of four and their luggage across several states, at high speed, banging off gut-wrenching zero-to-60 sprints in just over 3 seconds.
That the M5 Touring is obscenely fast, expertly manufactured, and positively maddening from a user interface perspective comes as no surprise if you’ve spent any time in a modern BMW. (Must air vents be controlled via touch? Is anyone impressed by so many menu apps? If I get pulled over going this speed, will they ask for the registration or just put me directly in county lockup?) The real surprise is that a car this stiff, on 20- and 21-inch staggered wheels, delivers such a poised and comfortable ride on bad roads. Plenty of cars with similarly sophisticated adaptive suspensions beat you up, where the M5 keeps things comfortable. Where the M5 misses the mark is its steering, which, despite its quickness and precision, wants for feel and a sense of connection to the road.
Many critics, this one included, have a hard time accepting that the plug-in hybrid system improves the driving experience in such a way that shedding a thousand pounds might do the job even better. Its mere existence is a reminder of market realities in the 2020s: that the target customers for a $140,000 über-wagen tend to live in the kinds of European and Chinese cities that severely regulate emissions in downtown areas. Why else would anyone spend so much money just to drive a 717-hp M5 in 194-hp electric-only mode? It’s like buying a mansion and then sleeping exclusively in the basement guest room and making turkey sandwiches in its attached kitchenette.
All that said, we’re not ones to spurn what is most certainly a gift to car enthusiasts, to say nothing of passionate BMW fans. The current M5 may not be the most engaging example in the model’s lineage, but it brings to our shores a functional, fashionable flavor we’ve never before experienced. Forbidden fruit tastes sweet, indeed.
2025 BMW M5 Touring
Highs: Gobs of cargo capacity. Unique style. Effortless acceleration. Refined, controlled ride. Confident handling that belies the prodigious weight.
Lows: Prodigious weight. Shares the M5 sedan’s relative insulation from the driving experience.
Takeaway: If supercar performance and SUV-like practicality are on your wish list, kick the X5 M to the curb. The very special M5 Touring is your bilberry.
