BMW is about to present a BMW M5 station wagon to the public for only the third time ever. But it will be the fourth different M5 Touring to date…
BMW has just announced that it is developing an M5 Touring, or station wagon, and it will reach production. This will be only the third M5 station wagon that BMW has ever produced for the public, but did you know that it could have been the fourth? BMW secretly made a high-performance executive wagon prototype based on one of its most adored M5 variants to date. But before we get there, what is an M5?
Quite simply, it's arguably the most iconic sports sedan ever made, a car that democratized supercar performance for the masses. It was the pinnacle of the practical sports car when the first-gen E28 arrived in 1984, and we'd argue that today, the M5 continues to carry that flag, providing headline-grabbing numbers in equal measure to space, luxury, and technology.
When a wagon version first arrived in 1992, the M5 became impossible to ignore as the ultimate one-car garage filler.
E34: Genesis
The first-ever M5 wagon was based on the E34 generation of the M5 sedan. Since BMW was not trying to fill every conceivable niche at the time, the E34 designation was carried across sedan and wagon body styles, whether made by the M division or BMW. Anyway, the M5 sedan was produced from September 1988 to August 1995. The S38 3.5-liter straight-six engine – from the M1 supercar, no less – powered the rear wheels via a five-speed manual gearbox and produced 311 horsepower at 6,900 rpm and 266 lb-ft of torque at 4,750. This facilitated a 0-60 mph sprint time of 6.3 seconds, and the top speed was 160 mph, making it the fastest sedan on the planet. Those were impressive figures and still are, but BMW could do better.
In late 1991, the 3.8-liter S38B38 updated engine arrived with 335 hp and a 0-60 time of 5.9 seconds. In 1992, a lefthand-drive M5 Touring was introduced. This was BMW's last hand-built M car. Some 891 units were made, a tiny portion of the 12,254 E34 M5s made altogether, so if you get the opportunity to somehow own one, do not hesitate. A six-speed Getrag manual was introduced in 1994.
Sadly, America's M5 (1991-1993) was only available as a sedan, despite the fact that the regular 5 Series wagon was already sold here. Worse still, the US-spec (and South African-spec) E39 M5 was only available with the smaller 3.5-liter engine because of emissions.
Think a 3.8-liter wagon would be bad for your carbon footprint? BMW once stuffed the engine from the McLaren F1 into an E34 M5 wagon one-off. Just imagine the noise of that V12 howling in competition with the screams of your frightened kids.
E39: An Elusive One-Off
Yes, BMW considered building an M5 wagon on the bones of the E39 sedan. In fact, things went as far as a full prototype, which was finished in Titanium Silver over a Black Exclusive leather interior. Unfortunately, financial considerations prevented its viability. More disappointingly is that BMW kept this piece of forbidden fruit secret for many years. More than a decade ago, however, a few journalists were allowed into BMW's inner lair and found loads more than just the one-off E39 M5 Touring, as reported by BMW Blog. German publications got to see the car even sooner – BimmerToday captured the most comprehensive gallery of the E39 M5 wagon to date in 2009. Not even BMW's press archives have images of this one.
To this day, BMW has remained tight-lipped on the prototype, but it would have been something special. It might have sold well, too, considering how many enthusiasts these days continue to bemoan its failure to launch. Still, several heroes among us have made their dreams a reality by blending E39 wagons with the powertrains of M5 sedans.
The regular E39 M5 sedan (1998-2003) featured a 4.9-liter S62 V8 engine (also found in the breathtakingly gorgeous Z8 Roadster) generating 394 hp at 6,600 rpm and 369 lb-ft at 3,800 rpm. A six-speed manual sent power to the rear wheels via a limited-slip differential, allowing for a 0-60 mph time of 4.9 seconds. Top speed was 161 mph, a smidge higher than the E34. 20,482 were made, and today, many consider this the finest M5 ever made, a near-perfect blend of performance, style, luxury, and refinement.
E61: The F1-Inspired Noisemaker
By the time 2004 rolled around, BMW had developed the need to differentiate chassis codes. Thus, the E60 5 Series was the sedan and the E61 signified the wagon. But nobody remembers that or even cares, frankly. The only thing that was burned into the collective consciousness at the time was that BMW had put a massive shrieking 5.0-liter V10 engine inspired by its F1 exploits into an executive sedan. If that wasn't enough, an F1-style paddle-shift gearbox was fitted. The SMG-III seven-speed single-clutch automated manual could perform shifts in as little as 65 milliseconds, the doors were soft-close, and a color head-up display was fitted. Many of the E6X's electronics would later prove to be troublesome, and the gearbox was rougher than any conventional automatic at low speeds, but this was the early 2000s. We survived Y2K and now expected our cars to show human mastery of technology too. BMW obliged, and the result was the E60 M5 (2004-2010).
The S85 engine produced 500 hp at 7,750 rpm and 384 lb-ft of torque at 6,100 rpm, enough for 0-62 mph to be clocked in 4.7 seconds (0-60 would have been in the mid to low four-second range). This was also around the time that BMW became a little sneakier about its true potential, and many independent tests confirmed that the M5 was almost a second quicker than claimed. The top speed was 155 mph unless you opted for the M Driver's Package, which unlocked 190 mph. Remove the limiter altogether, and you could hit 205, making it the fastest sedan on the planet once again and claiming the title of the fastest wagon in the world along the way.
But the wagon was once again withheld from us, 1,025 units being sold only in Europe. This is despite the fact that, during its five-year, 20,589-unit production run, the US was the biggest M5 market with 8,800 cars.
On the plus side, we got a six-speed manual transmission as a no-cost option in October 2006, the only market to do so.
G99: The Next Step
The all-new BMW 5 Series, known by the designation G60, will soon spawn an M variant that will be called G90 in sedan form and G99 in wagon form. Details remain hazy at the time of publication, but we know that an electrified powertrain will motivate the car. That powertrain is expected to be the same 4.4-liter twin-turbocharged V8 hybrid system from the XM Label Red SUV, which produces 738 hp. We hope BMW boosts the M5 to 750 just so that we don't have to think about the XM when referring to the M division's most powerful product, but even without a headline-stealing figure, we expect the latest BMW M5 to continue a fine tradition: being the most agile, quickest, and practical sports sedan (and wagon) in its class. All we ask is that we can have the wagon on American shores. Thankfully, our prayers may already have been answered.
Keyword: BMW M5 Touring: A Brief History Of The Sports Station Wagon