This news will not matter to most people. It will matter a great deal to a small number of people with a narrow set of interests. Those people have wanted to read this news since the early 1980s. Here it is, for them:
BMW will bring the M5 Touring to the U.S. in the fourth quarter of 2024.
An M5 isn’t news. BMW has sold every generation of its super sedan in the U.S., but the M5 Touring (euro for “M5 station wagon”) has been forbidden fruit to American enthusiasts since BMW first built one in the Reagan years. Now, the brand has finally announced plans to sell a longroof M5 stateside.
Pricing will start at (gulp, sorry) $122,675, including a $1,175 destination fee.
Like the M5 sedan previewed in June, it will be a plug-in hybrid. It gets 717 horsepower from a 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8 mated to a hybrid motor embedded directly in its 8-speed automatic transmission.
BMW says the M5 Touring can travel up to 25 miles on electric power before using any gasoline. It can also chug gasoline and electrons at the same time to go from zero-to-60 mph in a (wait-you-said-wagon) 3.5 seconds.
Yes, 3.5 seconds to 60 mph with 57.6 cubic feet of cargo space.
Mechanical differences between the sedan and the wagon are limited to additional underfloor bracing to handle the added weight on the rear.
The liftgate opens hands-free, and the third row folds in a 40:20:40 split to allow long item storage.
Competitors include the Audi RS6 Avant and…that’s pretty much the list. Porsche no longer builds a Panamera wagon, so Americans have just two wagons on Super Serum to choose from. That’s probably enough, though, for a segment with a small but delighted audience.
