BMW is just bringing the cool new M3 Touring wagon to market — in places that are not America. But a rumor on BimmerPost (as spotted by Motor1) suggests that America may get one more crack at a sporty internal combustion BMW wagon before everything goes all-electric.
The poster on BimmerPost, citing multiple BMW sources, says that BMW is planning a revival of the M5 Touring wagon for the next generation. It purportedly has a code name already, G99. And the post says it will start production in November 2024, four months after the M5 sedan.
This post tracks the previous report that the next M5 will be a plug-in hybrid. It should get the same S68 twin-turbo 4.4-liter V8 PHEV as the upcoming XM, putting out close to 750 horsepower in top-spec.
A G99 M5 Touring would be the third time BMW has offered a wagon variant of the M5. It would be the first time since the E61 M5 Touring went out of production in 2010. The post does not mention whether BMW will offer the M5 Touring in the U.S. But you can make a compelling argument that BMW would do that.
The U.S. is the BMW M Division’s biggest market. So there’s a strong incentive if BMW is going to produce an M product to offer it in America. An M5 Touring would come in at a higher price point — the current non-hybrid M5 sedan starts at nearly $110,000 — than an M3 Touring, which would theoretically make it more profitable and easier to justify.
America is, broadly, a dismal market for wagons. But the narrow exception to the rule is super-powerful high-performance German wagons like an M5 Touring. Audi brought back the RS 6 Avant wagon. And Mercedes — in a situation where it wasn’t forced to ration V8 engines — would still be offering the AMG E 63 S 4Matic+.
