2025 BMW M5 Touring: Hybrid V8 super wagon confirmed – UPDATE

UPDATE, 27 June 2023: BMW has confirmed it will build a high-performance version of the next BMW 5 Series wagon — the BMW M5 Touring — from next year.

After a teaser was released yesterday (below), the German car giant has confirmed the next BMW M5 super sedan will spawn a more practical derivative when it goes on sale late next year, with plug-in hybrid V8 power.

It will be the first BMW M5 Touring since the V10-engined 'E61' model was discontinued in 2010, and will be only the third generation of M5 Touring out of the seven iterations of M5 sedan since 1984.

Teaser images released by the company overnight will show the M5 Touring will adopt wide-body wheel arches similar to its sedan sibling, though specific design details remain under wraps for now – and the photos released show a camouflage prototype.

Overseas reports claim production of the wagon is not due to commence until November 2024 – a few months after the sedan begins rolling off the production line in July 2024.

Drive has contacted BMW Australia to confirm local plans for the M5 Touring.

Neither of the first two BMW M5 Tourings were offered in Australia – but the new, smaller M3 Touring is sold here, and Australia is a top market for BMW M performance cars globally.

The new BMW M5 Touring will rival the Audi RS6 Avant, which is currently powered by a twin-turbo V8 without hybrid assistance, but is expected to adopt plug-in hybrid technology for its next generation in 2025.

Meanwhile there is doubt over if there will be another generation of the Mercedes-AMG E63, amid tightening emissions laws in Europe.

Alex Misoyannis

26 June 2023: The 2025 BMW M5 Touring has been teased on social media for the first time.

BMW released a short video on Instagram showing engineers from M – the German car-maker's high-performance division – working on a wagon, with signs all but confirming it is the long-rumoured M5 Touring.

The video provides a quick glimpse at wide rear wheel-arch flares – similar to the smaller M3 Touring – being fitted to a wagon body with the same body lines and flush-fitting door handles as the latest 5 Series sedan.

It will be the first high-performance M version of the 5 Series Touring wagon since the V10-engined 'E61' model was discontinued in 2010.

Unconfirmed reports of the M5 Touring date back to 2021, with sedan and wagon versions of the new M5 expected to adopt plug-in hybrid 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 power from the BMW XM super SUV.

In the XM Label Red, the V8 produces a total of 550kW and 1000Nm, while offering an electric-only driving range of up to 80km. A smaller and presumably lighter M5 wagon could offer even better range.

As reported by Drive in June 2022, a BMW insider with a proven track record revealed the M5 Touring would enter production in November 2024.

This M5 Touring teaser is expected to precede the start of on-road testing on Germany's Nurburgring race track, where it can be snapped by spy photographers.

BMW does not traditionally unveil new M cars until a few months before production starts.

MORE: 2024 BMW M5 spied ahead of reveal

While the source claimed the project could be scrapped at any point if the market shifted, the social media video is the best indication the M5 Touring has been given final sign-off from company executives.

It's expected the M5 Touring will receive the model designation 'G99', while its sedan counterpart will be known as the 'G90' internally.

In late April, a leaked photo showed the upcoming BMW M5 sedan, just days before the 5 Series was unveiled.

Ben Zachariah