TOURING CAR CHAMPION? (some text hidden) --NONE--

By Jonathan Crouch

The seventh generation BMW M5 also comes in Touring estate form. Jonathan Crouch takes a look.

Ten Second Reviewword count: 89

BMW's M5 is the yardstick against which all serious performance saloons are judged, so its Touring estate counterpart sets the same standards for station wagons. Like its four-door counterpart, this G99 generation model features potent Plug-in Hybrid tech that's dramatically boosted the output of this seventh generation M5's re-fettled 727hp 4.4-litre V8. Rear-wheel steering sharpens things through the turns and there are a myriad of drive mode settings to make this one of the most configurable performance cars on the planet. Munich, it seems, has thought of almost everything.

Backgroundword count: 163

Only once has BMW previously offered its M5 in Touring form - the E61 model of 2005, which left production in 2010. With the more recent success of the smaller M3 in Touring form though, the Munich maker has been persuaded to return to offering a station wagon body shape for M5 folk and the result is this G99-era design. This seventh generation M5 is a performance Plug-in hybrid, just like its closest rival, the Mercedes-AMG E 53 4MATIC+, also available in estate form. And what a package is in store here from BMW; 727hp of power, 1,000Nm of torque, a top speed (in de-regulated form) of up to 189mph and a potential seats-down luggage space capacity of 1,630-litres. But pairing this car's trademark big V8 with PHEV tech has produced a weighty confection that proved hugely challenging for the company's M division to engineer. Still, it's all created a fresh chapter in the history of one of our favourite high performance standard-setters.

Engines and Tech Specword count: 422

This car's S63 series 4.4-litre V8 is the most potent engine ever devised by BMW's high performance M division. Which is just as well because it has to carry around a lot of weight. Still, 270kg of that extra bulk is there to facilitate the electrified addition to this M5's drivetrain that's increased total output so much. From 625hp in the old F90 M5 Competition to 727hp here. 585hp of that is from the engine and 197hp from an electric motor energised by an 18.6kWh battery large enough to make this a performance PHEV, with an all-electric range of up to 42 miles. Ignore the EV drive modes and this M division-curated confection shrugs off its prodigious 2.5-tonne kerb weight with bombastic speed, 1,000Nm of torque this super station wagon to 62mph in 3.6s en route to 189mph (if the optional 'M Driver's Pack' is fitted). Power is channelled via a toughened-up version of the 8-speed automatic transmission you'd find on a regular combustion 5 Series Touring and there's a 'Boost' mode you can activate to prompt faster acceleration by pulling on the wheel's left hand gearshift paddle. So it's fast enough in a straight line. Where you might worry, given all that powertrain bulk, is in this beefy G99 series M5 Touring's ability to tackle the turns. The Garching engineers fretted about this too and spent six years on handling development of this seventh generation M5 design as a result. For sharper corner turn-in, they added rear-wheel steering ('Integral Active Steering' in BMW-speak), which can turn the back wheels by up to 1.5-degrees. Plus there's a wider track, re-tuned steering, bespoke kinematics and elastokinematics on both axles and an adaptive suspension set-up able to adjust the new Bilstein dampers independently at each wheel. BMW's resisted the temptation though, to add the active anti-roll bars that are fitted to the M60 Touring EV; apparently, the M5's passive ones give more linear, natural levels of body roll. Thanks to the Hybrid system, there's a wide choice of drive modes - 'Hybrid' and 'M Hybrid' (which mix the power sources), 'Electric' (full-EV), 'Dynamic' (for track and fast road driving) and 'Dynamic Plus' (for all-out system power). All that's before you start accessing the centre screen to adjust chassis, steering, brakes, all-wheel drive and transmission, saving your preferred to settings to the red M paddles provided for the purpose behind the steering wheel. On the move, expect to notice this G99 series model's weight; but on tighter roads, you'll notice it's prodigious width even more.

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