BMW M5 Touring Back in 2024

BMW’s M performance-car division confirms the M5 Touring will return in 2024 as part of the upcoming seventh-generation M5 lineup, having last sold in selected markets with the fourth-generation M5 range back in 2010.

Revealed in prototype guise in official photographs issued to the media prior to the start of public road testing of the new model in Germany, the upcoming M5 Touring – a rival to the Audi RS6 Avant and Mercedes-AMG E63 4Matic+ Estate – sports traditional BMW M styling cues, including flared wheel arches, a prominent spoiler atop the tailgate, four round chromed tailpipes and what appear to be 21-in. wheels.

The revival of the M5 Touring, known under the internal codename G99, comes after BMW M introduced the M3 Touring earlier this year. The sportwagon will join the M5 sedan (pictured, below), codenamed G90, in an expanded lineup, offering added load-carrying capacity and versatility.

BMW M5 sedan 23 screenshot

North American availability is yet to be confirmed, though officials from BMW M tell Wards the M5 Touring is being considered for the U.S.

The M5 is expected to see European sales in sedan form during third-quarter 2024 ahead of the arrival of the Touring later next year. It will be the first M5 to feature a gasoline-electric plug-in hybrid powertrain, allowing it to travel for limited distances on electric power alone.

Confirmation of this is seen by the placement of “Electrified Vehicle” stickers on the front doors of the M5 Touring prototype revealed by BMW M.

In a statement to the media, the head of development at BMW M, Dirk Häcker, also says, “We are now also installing a hybrid drive system with typical M performance in other high-performance cars.”

Details remain scarce, though the new powertrain is described as an adaptation of that used by the recently introduced XM with a combination of BMW M’s familiar twin-turbocharged 4.4L gasoline V-8 and a gearbox-mounted electric motor.

In the XM Red Label, it delivers a combined 738 hp and up to 737 lb.-ft. (1,000 Nm) of torque, making the 5-seat CUV the most powerful road-going M model yet.

Whether the seventh-generation M5 will reach such heights is yet to be revealed, though insiders at BMW M confirm it will be offered exclusively with an 8-speed automatic gearbox and an all-wheel-drive xDrive system.

By comparison, the most powerful of today’s sixth-generation M5 models, the M5 CS, develops 626 hp and 553 lb.-ft. (750 Nm) from its twin-turbocharged 4.4L gasoline V-8.

Secrecy continues to surround the battery to be used by the new M5, though suggestions are it will be smaller in terms of energy capacity than the 25.7-kWh unit used by the XM and provide the new M car with an all-electric range of about 33 miles (53 km) at speeds up to 87 mph (140 km/h) on the WLTP test cycle.

BMW has already revealed standard versions of its new 5-Series and its electric sibling, the i5. The latter is headed by the i5 M60, whose dual electric motors develop up to 593 hp and 604 lb.-ft. (819 Nm) of torque for an official 0-62 mph (100 km/h) time of 3.8 seconds.

BMW M5 touring prototype 2_0