BMW M5 Touring 2025 review – 717bhp heavyweight is impressive if not enchanting

evo verdict

Over a year on from its introduction there’s no less excitement and interest around the latest BMW M5, especially the Touring version. At least, that’s the impression you get when driving it as it gets more attention than a dihedral-doored supercar. Perplexing, as the team are in almost unanimous agreement that it’s probably the ugliest M5 ever made.

It’s also not an M car of the utmost distinction. It’s a much bigger and heavier, yet vastly faster, more capable and more agile car than the last M5 Touring of the distant past. It’s much more versatile and being a hybrid with serious range and low CO2 figures, makes infinitely more financial sense for some buyers than any M car before it. 

But the BMW M personality that oozes from the panel gaps of the old M2 CS and M5 CS only flickers into view when you’re really digging into the performance of the new M5; when you have it by the scruff, right up on its toes, at which point beads of mass management sweat are precipitating on your brow. It’s the most appealing M5 ever if you’re wearing your sensible trousers and an enormously impressive technical achievement, if not the most visceral or involving of driver’s cars, or the most expressive of M5s.

Engine, gearbox and technical highlights

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• 717bhp from twin-turbo V8 hybrid powertrain
• Single electric motor between transmission and engine
• Big battery informs 50 miles of EV range and c2500kg weight

The M5 Touring’s technical constitution is as in the saloon, pairing a 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 engine with an electric motor sandwiched between it and the eight-speed automatic transmission, for 717bhp in total and 738lb-ft. That potency reaches all four wheels via BMW M’s xDrive AWD system and active M differential at the rear, while rear-wheel steering improves low-speed manoeuvrability and high-speed agility. 

Wider front and rear tracks (75mm front, 48mm rear) over a regular 5-series provide a packed wheelhouse for the 20 and 21-inch front and rear wheels that are fitted with a Hankook tyre as standard and Michelin Pilot Sport S 5 and Pirelli’s P Zero Corsa as options.

The 197bhp electric motor is fed by an 18.5kWh battery that sits beneath the boot floor. It also contributes a fair wedge to the M5 Touring’s headline-grabbing 2475kg kerb weight. The extra bodywork adds 40kg compared to the saloon.

At 3.6sec, the Touring is a tenth slower to 62mph than the saloon and two-tenths slower to 124mph, at 11.1sec. Restricted, it stops at 155mph, climbing to 190mph ‘unrestricted’, but we suspect BMW M has restricted this top speed too, down to the capability of the tyres running at that speed and with this much weight. 

Performance, ride and handling

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• Disguises its weight well
• Instant punch of electric motors is notable
• Not the most expressive of driver’s cars

With a 40kg weight increase over the saloon, taking the total mass to 2475kg and a mere two per cent increase in total all at the rear, the 4.4-litre twin-turbo hybrid powertrain feels every bit as potent as it does in the saloon. Even in its mildest mode it has the performance to match expectations of a car with a headline power figure of 717bhp. Although that mass is never far from your thoughts, especially so when you do the numbers and realise its 294bhp/ton power-to-weight figure is on a par with the 503bhp G80 BMW M3 Competition.

At the heart of the M5’s performance is its V8 that revs with impunity and has an endless supply of energy to call upon thanks to the battery pack and electric motors; as with the saloon the 197bhp and 206lb ft fills the gaps in the hot-vee turbocharged V8’s power and torque delivery, and provides that instant shove in the guts when you give it everything, which includes the 738lb ft of torque that’s doing a lot of the heavy lifting here.

On the road the Touring feels big, like its saloon counterpart, but thanks to the chassis technology and systems BMW M has slaved over to perfect, it’s an easy car to place and, cliche alert, it shrinks around you when you start to push on, with no seismic difference on the road in how the Touring reacts compared to the saloon.

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Its steering is calm, bright and responsive allowing for good road positioning but it takes some adjustment as your eyes and mind calibrate to the swiftness and precision the Touring can be placed on the road with. It takes quite a few turns for you to reduce your margin of error. Like the saloon, the Touring’s rear-axle steering - 1.5 degrees of counter steer up to 43mph and the same angle but in the same direction as the fronts above that speed - is key to this, resulting in a keener than expected agility allowing you to feel what the front is doing and trust the rear to follow suit. And it takes some heavy right foot to induce any degree of push from the front. It’s no M2 but despite its near Mercedes S-class proportions, it’s far from a fish out of water either. Its near 50:50 weight distribution plays a crucial role here, too.

Dynamically the M5 Touring follows its saloon counterpart with a myriad of drive modes and damper settings. Comfort, where we suspect many drivers will leave their M5 Touring’s dampers, provides a strong baseline and dynamics that feel unshakable. On Germany’s glass smooth surfaces Sport mode barely causes a flinch. As we suspected it would when we first drove the M5, any less than perfect surfacing (so most of the UK’s road network) does make itself known to you as the M5 rumbles over it. The ride settles down more at speed but is busy at low speeds, the M5 unable to isolate you from sudden jolts.

Sport settings for the steering up the weight but reduce its linearity, however the braking performance, at least on the carbon-ceramics, improves further still. In Sport they build on the great feel, mid-travel modulation and an initial response that inspires confidence from the off. 

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Through the M modes you can continue to adjust the xDrive four-wheel drive system, slackening off the electronic controls or going all out two-wheel drive, all systems off hero mode. Even with more drive being sent to the rear axle the M5 Touring can be encouraged to move around in the dry, and snap back at you in the wet or if you are clumsy. With all that power and torque requires even greater control when you decide to take the control away from the driver aids. Two-wheel drive in the wet and on your own? You’ll probably do it once and record the moment for Instagram. Unless you fire yourself into the scenery, of course.

The boring stuff? The M5 is eager to charge its own batteries compared to some hybrids. On a recent 1000-mile jaunt to Le Mans and back we enjoyed 116 miles of electric-only motoring without plugging it in at all, the car returning 26.4mpg on average, five-up with all our luggage. For those with the ability to plug it in at home and at work for the weekday commutes, reserving the V8 for recreational jaunts and weekends, this should be a very compelling option indeed.

Driver’s note

‘The new M5 doesn’t wear the M colours on its sleeve. This is a car you have to get in the right modes and drive hard on the right road, to bring out the M personality - one that’s hungry for pace and eager to engage. To this end the M5 is at its best and most natural-feeling in the 4WD Sport drivetrain setting with traction control off, allowing you to fully exploit its agility and balance and get into an almost Nissan GT-R-like neutral flow. When the stars aren’t aligned, however, it’s more M550i than full-on M5.’ – Ethan Jupp, evo web editor, who tested the M5 Touring on the road in the UK and Europe.

Interior and tech

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• Reasonable quality
• Ergonomics that take some learning
• Ambient lighting that’s borderline absurd

As with its technical and mechanical setup, the M5 Touring is largely a carryover on the inside from the M5 saloon, save for the larger space for clobber behind the rear passengers. That means it’s reasonably high quality (save for a few scratchy plastics) and filled with tech. A few irritants carry over too – the ambient lighting that’s so prominent and aggressive its reflection in the door glass renders your side mirrors useless at night.

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The tech is also at times frustrating. The presence of the M1 and M2 buttons on the steering wheel is this car’s saving grace, allowing you to save presets for the myriad adjustable parameters, from the powertrain to the suspension, steering, drivetrain and traction control. The M5 is a car of many characters and you can save the two you most desire, or most regularly use, in these buttons. 

But other controls aren’t so easy to navigate –  temperature and fan settings in the touch screen and on haptic sliders is still not an intuitive solution. You do get used to life in the M5 and learn its various controls, given time. But should you have to, or should things just be intuitive and instantly easy to use? 

Price and rivals

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Like the M5 saloon there is a great deal to admire about the M5 Touring. Its bandwidth in terms of dynamics, performance and comfort is unlike any M5 that has gone before. It doesn’t get near to the mighty M5 CS in terms of engagement or dynamic performance but that doesn’t take away from what the M team has created: a car with both great agility and composure when required, refinement and comfort when needed. How it defies its mass, is so precise when pushed and engages regardless of the setting you are in is even more impressive. However, like the saloon, the M5 Touring lacks the desirability of its forebears, rather it is a car to be admired and one that you should walk past every performance SUV to get to.

At £113,605 it’s seven thousand pounds cheaper than the less powerful 621bhp Audi RS6 Performance too. Old foe Mercedes-AMG lags some way behind the pair, with its six-cylinder hybrid £94,390 E53 hybrid models giving away two-cylinders and 18bhp to the RS6 and 114bhp to the M5 Touring. Then from within BMW's own ranks is the M3 Touring, now available in hardcore CS trim. Beyond these you’re stepping into the performance SUV market, though you’ll pay a lot more than the M5’s price for one worth having – Aston Martin DBX707, Range Rover Sport SV et al, all cost well north of £150k.

BMW M5 Touring (G99) specs