It wasn’t long ago that BMW head designer Domagoj Dukec allegedly told a reporter “that the next-generation M5 will be sold in North America in both sedan and wagon body styles.” We say allegedly because the report was later denied altogether before hemming and hawing about its existence and what markets it will be sold in continued in earnest. Well now we have for-real confirmation. Says the automaker in an official release: “The upcoming 7th generation of the BMW M5 sedan will be joined – for the first time in the US – by a Touring variant.”
Now that we know about its dueling body shapes, questions will naturally turn to its performance credentials. And those, we’re sorry to say, are still under wraps. We’ve seen spy shots for months now of the next-gen M5 in both short- and long-roof variants out testing on roads and racetracks around the globe, and rumor has it that we’ll see some sort of plug-in powertrain with more than 700 horsepower and all-wheel drive. BMW says the M5 will debut with “an M Hybrid drivetrain closely related to the one found in the BMW M Hybrid V8 GTP race car.” That racing machine’s got a 4.0-liter bi-turbo V8 engine buoyed by an electric motor and battery pack.
We also expect lots of aggressive styling features to adequately convey what ought to be ridiculous capabilities, though mercifully the prototypes we’ve seen aren’t wearing disguises that include a schnoz worthy of Cyrano de Bergerac. Will there be multiple versions with escalating performance levels (Competition? Red Label?), and what will it cost? We don’t yet know. All we can do now is sit and wait for production, which will begin in the fourth quarter of this year, for the rest of the details. But we’re excited that, for the first time in history, American enthusiasts will get access to the M5 Touring along with the rest of the fun-and-practicality crowd.
