First Drive: Can BMW’s M5 Touring deliver in all areas?

What is it?

The M5 Touring is quite a rare beast in BMW’s history. While the regular saloon M5 can trace its lineage back to the square-nosed E28 model of the late 1980s, only three generations of this high-powered model have gained an estate – or Touring – version. It makes this latest M5 Touring rather special, but also means that there’s a whole lot of pressure riding on it to perform.

The latest generation of M5 has introduced hybrid power for the first time, but can this combine with a more practical estate bodystyle to make this the ideal everyday performance car? We’ve been finding out.

What’s new?

Core to this new generation of M5 is, of course, that hybrid powertrain but there’s a lot going on elsewhere for this Touring version. Naturally, extra space is what you’re after if you’re looking at any type of estate car and the M5 Touring’s 500-litre boot – expandable to 1,630 litres by folding the rear seats down – is handily sized. Interestingly, if you opt for the electric i5 Touring, boot space increases to 570 and 1,700 litres respectively.

Look at the back of the M5 Touring and you may notice a gap between that huge rear splitter. The reason? It allows owners to fit a proper tow bar and, once attached, the M5 Touring offers up to 2,000kg of towing capacity.

What’s under the bonnet?

The beating heart of the M5 Touring is a thumping 4.4-litre twin-turbocharged V8 similar to the one you would’ve found in the previous-generation M5. However, attached to it are an electric motor and battery, which boost power up to an impressive 737bhp. Torque is equally momentous at 1,000Nm. All of this equates to a 0-60mph time of 3.4 seconds and a limited top speed of 155mph.

But there’s another side to the M5 Touring as a result of the hybrid setup. It should, in theory, manage around 42 miles of electric-only running from a full charge, while BMW claims a combined fuel consumption of up to 166mpg – though you’ll have to be running on electric power nearly all of the time to achieve this. During mixed driving, expect to see around 30mpg, which still isn’t bad for a car with this much performance.

What’s it like to drive?

Given that the M5 Touring weighs over 2.5 tonnes, you’d half expect it to corner like a submarine. However, in reality, the Touring sheds that weight and leaves you with a car which feels sharp, committed and remarkably accomplished in the bends. All-wheel-drive means that traction is plentiful and you can play around with the car’s near-endless driver settings to tailor the type of power delivery you’d like. It’s also incredibly punchy and though the V8’s engine note is a little one-dimensional, you can’t fault how accomplished the whole powertrain is.

But it’s nice having the other electric side to the M5, too. Whereas that V8 is great to lean on when you’re moving more quickly, having the ability to waft around silently is handy too, particularly around town.

How does it look?

If you’re after a car with plenty of character then you’ve come to the right place. With hugely blistered wheelarches and a front grille which is hard to miss, the M5 Touring is hard to miss. Against the standard saloon, we’d say that the ‘wagon’ looks even better, but brings the added bonus of extra practicality.

However, there’s one thing that the M5 Touring’s styling cannot hide – its size. In the metal, it’s something of a leviathan and is far and away from the svelte, more compact M5 models of old. It’s also far less subtle – but that’s a personal preference, of course.

What’s it like inside?

A car with lots of performance needs an interior that can perform, too, and we’d say that in many areas the M5 Touring does this well. The huge front sport seats manage to be both comfortable and supportive, while a variety of physical controls help when you’re on the move. The bright red ‘M’ buttons on the steering wheel allow for quick access to pre-set driving functions, too, so it’s easy to adjust the car to your desired setup without having to delve into the main menu.

Rear seat space is decent, too, and this should help to make the M5 Touring into the kind of performance car that the whole family could enjoy. As mentioned, boot space isn’t bad – though a little bit under what you’d expect to get from a car of this size.

What’s the spec like?

Prices for the M5 Touring start from £113,405, which is no small sum of money. Naturally, the bulk of that cost is going into the mechanicals of this car and you do feel like you’re getting value given how quickly this car can travel, but also how efficient it can be should you need it.

Standard equipment is what you’d expect to find on a range-topping performance car, though much of the technology on board is the same as you’ll see on the standard 5 Series Touring and electric i5 Touring. The large touchscreen display has plenty of features and is quick to respond though the sheer number of driver settings can be a little overwhelming when you first encounter them; a near-endless number of chassis, engine and steering combinations mean you’ll want to get those quick-fire steering wheel buttons set up quickly to avoid having to use the screen.

Verdict

There was a lot of criticism levelled at the M5 when it was first launched. A hybrid system was seen to potentially dull down the spirit of the V8, while the car’s weight represented a sizeable increase over the previous model. But in reality, these criticisms fade away once you’re able to see how multi-faceted the M5 is – particularly in Touring specification.

It’s impressively composed – and aggressive – so you don’t feel like the weight or the powertrain are diminishing the M5 experience, but instead boosting it. On paper, it may seem like the M5 Touring wouldn’t deliver, but once you’re behind the wheel, it appears that it can.