2025 BMW M5 Touring: The 717HP Hybrid Wagon America Never Knew It Needed!
717 horsepower. 738 pounds of torque. 0 to 60, in a couple of ticks over three seconds. And it's got a charging port. This is BMW s first ever M5 touring for North America.
190 mile an hour family hauler that can take your kids to school without waking the neighbors. But there's a philosophical question at the heart of this six figure super wagon can the ultimate driving machine maintain its soul while embracing electrification? Has BMW built the perfect wagon or a 5,500 pound identity crisis? I've spent the week pushing this M5 to its limits in terms of performance as well as utility, to see if it's worthy of the M badge. What's it like? Buckle up, my friends. Let's go for a drive. I'm your host, Brian Max racer, a lover of driving fast, fun things. And on this channel you get reviews for drivers from drivers.
Now, this M5 touring first time in North America. And this thing is just incredible. It's underpinned by the M5 tech that we know and love with a wagon body style.
And before we get into what this is like, The Drive, let's have a look at it in a little more depth. I can imagine the board meeting about this M5 touring when it came to the decision to bring it to North America. One executive probably said they keep begging for them, but another one said, well, they never buy them. Then one brave soul in marketing shows a PowerPoint slide of Instagram comments and forum posts saying shut up and take my money.
And here we are 30 years later, it's like BMW finally agreed to go out on a date with us North Americans, but showed up dressed in a tuxedo carrying a bouquet of flowers made up entirely of cash. Like the sedan, the touring has flared wheel arches 75mm wider in the front, 38mm wider in the back, and I suspect the M design team said, you know what would make this car perfect? Hips that would make Shakira jealous. Under the hood is the 4.4l V8 with two twin
scroll turbos that we know and love, but this is a hybrid. Combined, the power unit makes 717 horsepower and 738 pounds of torque. The 14.8kW hour battery and the electric motor are capable of driving you and your M5 touring up to 25 miles or 40km, and forget about all the regular drive modes that any M car has. This one has five modes for the hybrid system. There's an EV mode where the 14.8kW hour battery and the electric motor
will take you up to 87 miles an hour for a range of 25 miles, or 40km. The transmission's an eight speed automatic tuned by M. Steering is electrically assisted. It's M servo tronic, which means it's variable ratio, variable assist plus this has integral axle steering, which means it's got four wheel steer.
Suspension uses double wishbones at the front, multi-link set up at the rear with adaptive dampers. Brakes are these M compound type as standard carbon ceramics are optional. Six piston calipers at the front, single at the rear. Wheels are 20 s at the front, 20 ones at the rear, 285 wide at the front, 295 at the rear. Curb weight of this M5 touring is 5,530 pounds.
Weight distribution is basically 5050, but on this channel we know it's not static weight distribution that counts, it's how you use it. And fun fact with the rear seats folded flat, cargo carrying capacity opens up to just shy of 60 cubic feet, which BMW engineers calculated to be the size of your ego. When you tell people you drive an M5 touring at dinner parties. And for what it's worth, it appears that this doesn't exactly make 717 horsepower and 738 pounds of torque. It's closer to 780 horsepower and 800 pounds of torque.
But I didn't tell you that. Did you know that 80% of you are not subscribed? Yes, it's true, 80% of you are not subscribed. I checked the data, so if you like the content on this channel, do me a solid hit that subscribe button.
Make sure you like this and if you want to support the channel, please hit up our merch store links here links below. Lots of great stuff for driving enthusiasts like us, including our very popular line of Save the Manuals merch. Now back to your regularly scheduled episode. Behind the wheel. Well, there's only one thing to say, and that is this is BMW m car. Cockpit perfection starts with the seat.
This is highly supportive, very, very comfortable, properly bolstered in the right spots, and I sit nice and low in the floor. But like any good BMW seat, it is exceptionally comfortable over long distances and highly, highly adjustable. Same thing with the steering column. Lots of adjustment in the steering column and anybody can fit perfectly behind the wheel here. This wheel is modern BMW m, so it's on the thicker side in terms of rim thickness. Does have this flat bottom bit which for not necessarily a fan of.
But then it's got shift paddles on the back. And this left shift paddle is a dual function paddle with the M drivers package, which is standard equipment here in Canada. What you do with this left shift paddle is you pull it for a little bit more than a second, and then it activates the boost control function. That essentially makes it the automotive equivalent of a video game.
Power up, press X to overtake. Now just kidding. When you're driving the M5 touring and want immediate access to maximum performance, you pull and hold the left shift paddle for more than a second, then simply hit that gas pedal and it delivers maximum acceleration. It's essentially BMW s version of push to pass or an overtake function, but implemented through the paddle shifter.
Boost control works between 20 and 90 miles an hour, or about 30 to 150km an hour. And it's a great way to get up to highway speeds without any consideration, or simply a way to exploit gaps in traffic. When they first implemented the M1 and M2 buttons, I thought they were a gimmick.
But after many years of driving BMW m cars, these buttons or something I can't live without, it doesn't matter which M car I get into. As soon as I got in this M5 touring, I set my M1 and M2 buttons up exactly the way I want M1 responsible adult M2 teenager who just discovered how to do burnouts yesterday. Ergonomically modern BMW so there's a lot of touch based interfaces starting with the steering wheel. I do appreciate the haptic feedback, but I still prefer some actual buttons here. At least there are some buttons here for a couple of different controls, like your adaptive cruise speed, setting and track changes, or radio station changes, that sort of thing. But everything else is touch based on the wheel.
Like all modern BMW s, we have a dashboard filled with screens, but I have no complaints. We've got direct sunlight on the instrument cluster right now, and I can still see this legibly. So definitely well done BMW with this, because if I can see it in this direct sunlight, it's absolutely fantastic. There's a heads up display which I can mostly see through my polarized sunglasses, which is not too bad.
And as far as the infotainment system, well, these modern iDrive systems, I find them to be a little too complex for my liking. Like other modern BMW s, the climate controls have migrated into this infotainment screen as well. Thankfully, I use the climate controls on automatic and don't really worry about it. We do have BMW s modern shifter and I understand why they do this. Keeps this area clean and tidy instead of having a shifter stick out of this console, and I appreciate it in that regard.
But there's something maybe a little bit more satisfying with an actual shifter instead of this little switch. Drive modes are one thing, but given that this M5 touring is a plug in hybrid, we do have control over the hybrid system, and there are five different modes. There's Dynamic Plus, which is give me all the power now, dynamic, which is a little bit less. There's a pure hybrid, there's a pure electric mode. And we have been driving this on pure electric, which we will discuss in a little bit.
And then there is E control which maintains or charges the battery when you drive. And in fact yesterday I fully charged the battery while I was driving in terms of visibility. While BMW knows how to do this right, I've got great visibility in all directions cameras, parking sensors, everything you need to park this easily. And then on top of that, we do have big outboard mirrors. Adjust those properly along with your rearview mirror, and then blind spots aren't real terms of spaciousness.
Well, here in the front seats, well, there's lots of room, plenty of storage, no complaints. The only odd thing is, if you have to charge a phone, you've got to look way over here and find a USB port to connect your phone. But this runs wirelessly. I've got the phone in its wireless charger and it's very happy that way.
Lots of room for your passenger, and there's some bottle holders in the door. A little bit of storage in the armrest though. Really no complaints in the second row. Well, that is where the idea of a long roof starts.
There seems to be much more space in that second row. I've sat there a fair bit, and I'm very, very comfortable in that second row, even behind myself in the seating position. I've got lots of room, but there's more headroom, there's just a lot more space.
So that second row is not a bad place to be. But we are here for this touring and there is a ton of room under the hatch. It's a total game changer when it comes to the M5. There's so much more storage in this touring than the sedan.
It's not even a question of comparison. For most of this week I've been traveling with a couple of bags, my camera bag, my backpack filled with stuff, my cigar humidor, of course, and a couple of tripods. And I'm not taxing any of the space under that hatch.
This touring can handle all of the stuff. I would use a big SUV to haul whether it's bicycles, golf clubs, my snowboards. There's no problem at all taking anything in this M5 touring, and it's a real game changer for people who are looking at things like the x5 M or X6 m. I think this presents a much more compelling argument. BMW has got something called a digital key plus for this M5, which allows you to unlock your M5 with your iPhone or your Apple Watch, which is all awesome until you have to explain to a tow truck driver why you can't open your $140,000 BMW station wagon because you forgot to charge your thousand dollars phone.
Purely in the interest of science, we're going to try a launch control again. Maybe only because it paints a smile on my face. But what I have done is set up my M2 two configuration so that we can launch this thing with Launch Control Active. And it's as simple as standing on the brake.
Let's stand on the gas and see what happens. Launch control. Release the brake. Oh! Oh, this is ridiculous.
The funny thing is that, sure, it launches from a stop. Quick, but when you get to the upper end of third gear, it's still pulling. Hard hit, fourth gear, it's still pulling. Hard hit, fifth gear. It's still pulling hard.
This is such a unique driving experience. Normally speeds like that, this would taper off in terms of acceleration. But third, fourth, fifth gear you're still planted in the back of the seat. This is just incredible. I think BMW says this will do 0 to 60 in three, three, three, four, but realistically it's closer to three flat any time you've got a good surface top speed.
Well that depends on whether you have the M drivers package. It's standard equipment here in Canada, which means this will top out at 190 miles an hour if you don't have it. Top speeds limited to 155. And if you're not crazy about driving or highly experience, you might want to consider that 155 mile an hour limiter. But if you're just crazy like me, you definitely need the M drivers package for that 190 mile an hour top speed, because who doesn't need 190 mile an hour wagon? I know I do.
If you're going to take your M5 touring to the racetrack, you probably want the M driver's package just to uncork that speed limiter, because a number of tracks that I drive, this would definitely exceed 155 miles an hour. Eight speed automatic does exactly what you want it to do. So let's put us in manual shift mode and cruise along here. No worries. And as we approach a corner, well, we can accelerate. Then we transition to the brake.
A couple of downshifts, rev match downshifts, and it performs those shifts so quickly up or down the box. And on top of that, it's such an odd thing, but you can drive this purely on the electric motor. And that electric motor is sandwiched between the engine and the transmission.
And what that means is you're driving on an electric motor with the transmission that's engaged, so it actually shifts while you're driving an EV mode. It's a very unusual driving experience, but I'm definitely here for it. This comes with M xDrive, which kind of sounds like an extreme sports channel, but what it actually is is a very intelligent all wheel drive system with three modes. The default all wheel drive is for people who value their lives and their insurance premiums.
Four wheel drive sends more power to the rear wheels. For those who want to pretend they're in a rear wheel drive car because it still maintains its rear drive dynamics. But then there's two wheel drive mode, which disables the all wheel drive completely and is only available when you fully deactivated. Stability control and BMW describes it as appealing to experienced drivers. For others, though, it might be better labeled as divorce finalizer. But really, my wife loves it when I drift around Toronto streets.
Just kidding. I don't do that, really, I don't. There's an electronically controlled limited slip diff at the back, which is just amazing. There's so many advantages to electronically controlled limited slip diffs. For example, the one thing that most people don't talk about is under braking. It's fully open, so there's no lock in the diff.
And what that means to you and me, especially those of us who love to drive quickly since there's no lock in that rear diff, the rear wheels are free and the car is much more stable under braking. To put this M5 touring in context, this power unit makes it quicker than supercars from a decade ago. Plus, you can carry every thing from a Costco run and you're a Labrador retriever. And while Tesla owners are all talking about how amazing their charging network is, M5 touring owners can cruise on 25 miles of pure EV range, or simply switch on the twin turbo V8 and remind everyone else why internal combustion engines still matter. Oh come on.
This thing is so quick it's unbelievable. And the way it all kind of comes together is so seamless. This just puts down power and it goes and it goes. And when it hits third gear, it's pulling harder. It's fourth gear, it's pulling even harder. As much as people want to complain that this might be a tick or two slower to 60 than the previous gen M5, I don't think that's the whole story, because when this hits third, fourth and fifth gear, it's pulling so hard it is unbelievable.
This is clearly engineered, designed and meant for the Audubon. There's no doubt about that. But they've sorted the rest of the dynamic package to be usable in all kinds of other situations. But this is incredible.
Now let's talk about how this 5,500 pound wagon handles, because on paper it shouldn't. It's kind of like thinking an NFL linebacker can perform Swan Lake. And on paper this just doesn't compute. And yet somehow BMW has employed enough tech to suspend the laws of nature. Sure, it's easy to say this whole dynamic package defies the laws of physics, but that's not what's going on here.
I think what's really going on here is this car is cutting backroom deals with the laws of physics. Yet here we are. Steering is ridiculously precise, of course. Brakes, ABS solutely fantastic. Look at this. Car's a brilliant line. There's just enough feedback here.
It's not entirely muted in terms of feel or feedback, but chassis feel quite quite good as well. Wow, this just doesn't make any sense. And yet it is so delayed light for just incredible and exiting corners. Just brilliant. The dynamic package here is incredibly sophisticated.
There's a lot of tech going on here, and it all kind of comes together to serve the purpose of making this big wagon handle like it weighs hundreds. If not thousands of pounds less than it actually does. We've got M's excellent adaptive dampers. Then we've got this steering, which is variable ratio, variable assist, and the rear wheel steer. And then on top of that we've got the M5 brake by wire system, which is something I really like.
When I first heard they were doing this, wasn't necessarily a fan. Then I drove it and threw that idea out the window. The brakes are excellent. There's two levels of assist.
There's like a comfort and in the sport. And here's the thing, that sport level of assist gives you a little bit more pedal pressure, which is exactly what you want when you are hustling a high, high performance car like this M5 touring. There is not a lot of feel or feedback that comes through the steering wheel, but there's a decent amount of chassis feel, so we are getting some feedback from each of those contact patches through the chassis, and it's strong on center. It's very easy to maintain a precise line when you're hustling this through some corners. It's four wheel steer, so when you're parking this or making some tight turns, the rear wheels steer out of phase, shortening the turning radius.
And this is incredibly maneuverable. If you remember from our 2025 M5 sedan episode that particular car was fitted with the carbon ceramics, and I was very curious about what these M compound, these two piece steel rotors were like. And these are excellent. So if you were going to ask me, I'd simply say the choice is yours my friend. In terms of ride, it is very comfortable here. Yeah, it is on the firm side, but I don't think you're going to have any passenger complain unless they're the exceptionally sensitive types.
And those are the kind of people you don't want your car anyway. Unlike Tesla, which updates their suspension settings with some over-the-air updates depending on what kind of mood Elon is in on any given day, BMW actually test their M cars at a place called the Nurburgring Nordschleife. Perhaps you've heard of it. How do you spec yours? Well, with any BMW m car, there are plenty of considerations. What you are looking at is a 2025 BMW m5 touring in frozen Black Metallic, with the black and red interior.
Base price in the US is $121,500, plus a couple of options including this matte finish paint and, as tested prices, about $132,000. But keep in mind this is a Canadian car and US M5 touring are not exactly product plan the same in Canada. Base price is $138,000, this paint is $6,000 and a couple of options fitted to this one.
Give it an as tested price of $149,000. In these prices are before freight, taxes, fees, etc.. When it comes to speaking your M5 touring, BMW has thoughtfully given you a number of choices to turn your six figure Super wagon into something that approaches the GDP of a small nation.
With colors, you have a bunch of options, ranging from the understated black sapphire to the eye searing Isle of Man green and Marina Bay blue. Then there's BMW individual, which is basically BMW saying, you think those colors are special? Hold my beer stein. The program lets you order virtually any color you can imagine, including those from vintage BMW or even matching your favorite pair of shoes. There are two very important options that you have to consider for the M5 touring.
One is the M driver's package because it does two things. One, it uncorks top speed from 155 miles an hour to 190 miles an hour, and it gives you a day at BMW Driving Experience Center, which is very important if you're piloting a 190 mile an hour, five seat super wagon as well, you have to make a choice whether you want these M compound brakes or the carbon ceramics. We tried the carbon ceramics on the M5 sedan a few months ago. Really like those, but there's no downside to these as far as I'm concerned.
I really dig these, and for the first time ever, I'd probably choose these M compound brakes over the carbon ceramics. Unless, of course, I want the blingy gold calipers. After a week and lots of miles, my verdict on this M5 touring isn't as simple as good or bad. It's much more nuanced than that. The hybrid component aren't here just for regulatory compliance.
They genuinely enhance the experience that instant torque fills gaps in the V8's power delivery that you didn't even know existed. And yes, silent cruising has its place even in a full blown M car. But the hybrid system's weight is undeniable. This doesn't dance like the E 39 M5, that's for sure, but it conquers the road through brute force and technology rather than finesse. What BMW has built isn't a compromised M car. It's a new interpretation of what an M car can be.
It's evolved. It's different, yes, but it's still special. Purists will debate whether this touring belongs in the M car pantheon. But for those who embrace what modern performance has become, and who've waited decades for BMW to bring a genuine M wagon to our shores, the split personality doesn't detract from the experience. It makes it more relevant than ever.
In this age of autonomous vehicles and EVs, this M5 touring is a leather wrapped, V8 powered middle finger to the inevitable future. It's not the car we need, but it's probably the car we deserved. Maybe the last hurrah for the internal combustion engine wrapped in a practical package. And for that reason alone, I love it. Thanks for hanging out with me today and having a look at this 2025 BMW m5 during. Hope you like this episode and if you did well, you're not new.
You know what to do. Smash the subscribe button, turn on your notifications. Like this. And as always, sharing is caring. So please share this with your friends, especially on Reddit, because on Reddit they really need to see reviews for drivers from drivers. If you have any questions or comments, please leave them in the comments below. I'll get back to you as soon as I can.
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Anyway, thanks again for watching. We'll see you again next time. And remember, cars don't understeer by themselves. Not even BMW m5 turings Turing's it since he hung around this long. Well, I suppose you should have a look at our episode of the 2025 M5 sedan. I think that will provide a nice counterpoint to this episode, but at the end of the day, I still really dig this touring. Anyway, thanks again for watching. See you again next time.
2025-05-05 01:22
