2025 BMW M5 Touring Review: The M Wagon We Waited For—and the Compromises We Didn’t

There’s a strange thing that happens when you finally get the car you’ve been asking for.

For years, the M5 Touring lived in the same mental drawer as manual Ferraris and affordable houses. A nice idea. A European fantasy. Something you joked about wanting, fully expecting BMW to never give it to you.

Then one day, they do.

And suddenly, the fantasy has weight. Literal weight. Emotional weight. Expectation weight.

That’s where the 2025 BMW M5 Touring finds itself—arriving not as a bonus, but as a burden. Not because it’s bad. But because it represents everything BMW M is trying to be in 2025.

Before We Get Any Deeper, a Confession

I’m still waiting for the day I climb into an M3 and think,
“Wow… this is just a bit too—”

Too stiff.
Too compromised.
Too slow.
Too cheap.

It hasn’t happened.

I’m an M3 person. But I’ve always wanted to graduate—to become an M5 person. I look at F90 M5 listings the way people browse engagement rings they’re not quite ready to buy. The perfect spec is always just out of reach.

The M5 Touring used to be that same unreachable thing.

Until BMW actually built it.

Why This Car Exists (And Why It Had to)

BMW cannot build another E39 M5. Not emotionally. Not culturally. Not financially.

BMW M is no longer a boutique skunkworks—it’s a global performance brand with emissions targets, shareholder pressure, and buyers who want luxury, speed, tech, and environmental guilt reduction in the same package.

The failure to bring the G81 M3 Touring to North America still stings. BMW knows it. The M5 Touring feels like the olive branch. The apology letter. The “fine, here you go” moment.

And BMW didn’t just dip a toe in. They went all in.

First M wagon sold here.
First hybrid M car ever.
Flagship status.

This car wasn’t allowed to be niche.

Specs, But Let’s Keep Them Grounded

Under the hood is BMW’s latest V8 masterpiece: the S68 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8, paired with a plug-in hybrid system.

On its own, the V8 makes 577 horsepower and 553 lb-ft of torque. The electric motor adds 194 horsepower and 207 lb-ft. Together, you get:

👉 717 horsepower
👉 738 lb-ft of torque

Power goes through BMW’s familiar ZF 8-speed automatic—still one of the best transmissions in the business—to all four wheels via M xDrive.

On paper, this thing should feel unhinged.

But paper doesn’t weigh 5,530 pounds.

Let’s Talk About the Weight (Because You Feel It)

I don’t usually harp on curb weight. Most of the time, it’s an internet argument with no real-world consequence.

This time, it matters.

At 5,530 lbs, the M5 Touring weighs more than an X5 M Competition. That’s not a typo. That’s not marketing spin. That’s reality.

And for the first time in my BMW-driving life, a BMW M car doesn’t shrink as you push it harder. It grows. It reminds you that physics is always present, even when horsepower is plentiful.

The car squats.
It dives.
It leans on its technology instead of dancing around it.

It’s incredibly capable—but it doesn’t feel eager.

Hybrid Power: Smart, Strong, Slightly Soulless

Around town, the M5 Touring can run up to 25 miles on electric power alone. That’s genuinely useful. You can sneak out early, cruise silently, and pretend you’re making responsible life choices.

But the moment you call for power, there’s hesitation.

The V8 comes in—not late enough to be dangerous, but late enough to be noticed. That moment matters in an M car. It always has.

Hybrid drive modes don’t help. They add layers of thinking to what used to be instinct.

Do I want max regen here?
Is this the right M mode for this corner?
Why am I menu-diving instead of driving?

Set the car into aggressive throttle mapping and things finally align. The engine stays on. The battery stops playing eco-hero and starts acting like what it really is: a silent accomplice.

In that mode, the M5 Touring feels like an M5 again.

But here’s the quiet gut punch:

It’s slower than the last one.

0–60 mph:

• 2025 M5 Touring: ~3.3 seconds
• F90 M5: ~3.0 seconds

It’s not about the number. It’s about what it represents. More tech. More complexity. No added urgency.

Chassis & Steering: Capability Without Playfulness

Performance score: 7 / 10

Grip is absurd. Traction is relentless. Stability is otherworldly.

This car will do things that should end your driving career permanently.

But enthusiasm? That’s missing.

At about 8/10ths, the Touring settles into itself and becomes a very competent grand tourer. Steering feedback is there. Balance is respectable. Confidence is high.

Push beyond that and the car starts asking why.

It’s like driving something built to impress engineers, not egg you on.

Think F1 car…
with a boat trailer.

Ride Quality: Surprisingly Brutal

Those 20-inch front and 21-inch rear wheels don’t do this car any favors.

Comfort mode is acceptable. Sport+ is genuinely unpleasant.

This is not a track car, yet it rides like one that forgot why tracks are smooth. My eight-year-old nearly launched into the headliner over a bad bump. There’s no carbon roof option, either—so this harshness isn’t buying you anything exotic.

This is a car that wants to cruise, not attack.

Brakes: Don’t Cheap Out

Standard steel brakes are fine—until they aren’t.

The optional $8,500 carbon-ceramic brakes make sense here. With this much mass, you need thermal headroom. Less fade. Firmer feel. Less dust.

If you plan to drive this like an M5 even occasionally, buy the ceramics. Cooking the steel brakes is not hypothetical—it’s inevitable.

Lifestyle: The M5 Touring’s Saving Grace

Lifestyle score: 9 / 10

This is why the Touring exists.

The front seats—Merino leather, heated, ventilated—are some of BMW M’s best. Supportive without punishment. Comfortable without feeling lazy.

The rear seats fit two kids easily. Three if you must. The cargo area is massive, wide, and genuinely usable—closer to an X5 than you’d expect.

At over 16 feet long, this car barely fit in my garage. Measure yours.

Drive it gently and charge nightly, and you might avoid gas altogether. Drive it like an M5 and you’re looking at 13 MPG, maybe 15 MPG on the highway if you behave.

There’s also a $2,600 gas-guzzler tax and fuel consumption of 7.7 gallons per 100 miles.

Hybrid? Yes. Efficient? Absolutely not.

Interior: Comfortable, Confusing, Questionable Choices

Comfort is excellent—capital C.

Bowers & Wilkins audio (with glowing speakers), massive panoramic roof, screens everywhere, and more buttons than an F-22 cockpit.

But look closer and things unravel.

The dash isn’t leather. The doors aren’t either. Plastic creeps in where it shouldn’t—especially in a $140,000 car. Carbon trim is minimal. Rear ambient lighting is barely there.

If you step out of a Mercedes and into this BMW, the difference is shocking.

I speak BMW fluently. If you don’t, the menus, haptics, and layered settings will test your patience.

Looks, Presence, and Public Reaction

Isle of Man Green Metallic is sensational. The wide hips work. The stance works.

People stare. Constantly.

Is it hype? Is it rarity? Is it because everyone secretly wanted this car for a decade?

Probably all three.

Stylistically, it feels like a collage of BMW eras—but somehow, it works. It looks serious. It looks expensive. It looks like something enthusiasts actually asked for.

Price Reality

Base price: $121,500
As tested: $140,775

Skip the carbon brakes and M Driver’s Package and the price becomes easier to justify—relatively speaking. This is flagship BMW M money, but it delivers flagship capability.

The Bigger Truth

The 2025 BMW M5 Touring is a mirror.

It shows us exactly where BMW M is going.

Electric—but inefficient.
Practical—but massive.
Powerful—but not quicker.

In trying to please everyone, BMW built a car full of compromise.

And yet…

It’s still an M5.

It will carry your family, your gear, and your ego—at ridiculous speed. It will out-handle almost anything on the road. It will do everything you ask of it.

Despite the flaws.
Despite the weight.
Despite the complexity and confusion

I’d still take it over an RS 6.

I can’t fully explain why.

Maybe it’s legacy.
Maybe it’s familiarity.
Maybe personality still counts—even when logic says it shouldn’t.

The M5 Touring isn’t perfect.

But it still matters.