This is no ordinary station wagon. It's not every day that you get a sports car with roof rails, a 373kW engine combined with 1650 litres of storage space, or a power-to-weight ratio of 198.4kW per ton allied to a maximum trailer load of 1800kg.

Yet that's the new BMW M5 Touring family rocketship — with 0–100km/h acceleration in 4.8 seconds and electronically-limited top speed of 250km/h — now available in South Africa by special order only.

With a 5.0-litre V10 engine (offering peak torque of 520Nm), it's the only BMW 5 Series Touring on sale locally.

Best of both worlds

Billed as a thoroughbred sports car that's also a practical five-door family saloon, the Touring is almost as fast as the M5 Sports Saloon, and completes the standing-start kilometre within 22.9 seconds. (Average fuel consumption in the EU test cycle is 15.0 litres/100 km and, on the open road, that drops to 10.6 litres/100 km.)

However, straight line acceleration is only one element of the M5 Touring. This is borne out by the five full-size seats, flexible loading space from 500 to 1650 litres, as well as driving comfort.

The two outer seats in the rear passenger area may be further upgraded by seat heating and come as standard with ISOFIX child seat fastening. As long as the centre seat remains free, the folding centre armrest offers a storage box and two cupholders. The rear-seat backrest split in a 60: 40 ratio folds down either completely or individually on either side.

As an option the luggage compartment may be upgraded with a special Storage Package complete with individual subdivision of the floor in the luggage compartment, folding partition panels, lashing belts in the side panels, and multi-function supports. The semi-automatic roll-up cover, in turn, keeps your luggage safely away from prying eyes, and the rear window opens separately as a standard feature, with an automatic tailgate opening/closing function coming as an optional extra.

Discreet but powerful

Distinguishing this new model from the "regular" BMW 5 Series Touring, the exterior design boasts discreet modifications: the front air dam, side-sills, air intakes in the side panels, the rear air dam as well as four round tailpipes.

Beneath the sheet metal, on the other hand, numerous details and improvements adapt the "basic" model to the power and performance offered by the M5 Touring. Particularly the suspension, steering and DSC Dynamic Stability Control have been optimised to match the power of the engine and the modified centre of gravity. And to further enhance the torsional stiffness of the Touring body, the reinforcements between the side-sills and the floor in the luggage compartment have been modified.

The seven-speed Sequential M Gearbox (SMG) with Drivelogic ensures transmission of engine power via the drivetrain to the rear wheels. Manual gear shifts are possible while the automatic Drive function enables fast cruising.

SMG is operated either via the selector lever or through toggles on the steering wheel. SMG Drivelogic, in turn, offers a choice of 11 driving programs enabling to individually adjust the gearshift characteristics of SMG. Using the manual gearshift function (S-mode), you're able to pre-select six of these eleven programs, shifting gears by hand in your own personal style. The only exception is Launch Control for optimum acceleration from a standstill.

Rear-wheel drive and weight distribution from front to rear allow for dynamic driving characteristics further enhanced by the all-aluminium chassis and suspension, supported by the various functions and features of DSC Dynamic Stability Control — which may also be controlled by the driver.

Pressing the MDrive button on the multifunction steering wheel, for example, activates the M Dynamic Mode, with the DSC response thresholds cutting in at the level specified in advance. This, in turn, enables the driver to enjoy controlled power slides in bends, with DSC cutting in only when the car reaches the limits to driving physics. DSC may be fully deactivated.

EDC Electronic Damper Control, meanwhile allows you to adjust the particular characteristics of the chassis and suspension to current driving conditions, with a choice of three different suspension settings ranging from comfortable, through dynamic, to sporting and firm.

The Variable M Differential Lock allows optimum traction on all kinds of surfaces, building up 100 per cent locking action when required. This enables the BMW M5 Touring to accelerate faster out of bends and drive smoothly on slippery surfaces such as gravel.

But since you don’t always need the power and performance of the V10 power unit in everyday traffic, the car offers the P400 Performance Program. This program is automatically activated every time the driver starts the engine, providing maximum output of 400hp. Then, pressing the Power Button, you can activate full engine output of 507hp provided by either a sporting or race-like Dynamic Driving Program.

Step inside

Enhanced leather upholstery featured as standard conveys a touch of sporting class and elegance from the start. Full leather upholstery available as an option, in turn, provides even more exclusive style.

Within the cockpit the controls for important functions are grouped on or around the steering wheel. The standard Head-Up Display presents essential information directly in the driver’s line of vision so there's no need to look away from the road. This information is supplemented by specific M data such as the variable pre-warning field in the rev counter complete with integrated Shift Lights.

The Touring comes as standard with the BMW iDrive control concept. Menu guidance has been enhanced by the addition of MDrive Management, and to simplify the process of controlling the system there are eight freely available favourite buttons.

The special iDrive Controller exclusive to BMW M is made of solid aluminium tailored in its colour to the Pearl Gloss Chrome design. The speedometer and rev counter, in turn, come in ring-shaped surrounds also finished in Pearl Gloss Chrome, with white numbers on black instrument dials, instrument needles in brilliant BMW M Red and permanent white illumination.

Body-hugging M seats offer the driver and front passenger side support. The seats are flexibly adjustable and optionally available active adjustment of backrest width automatically gears side support to the respective driving conditions and requirements.

The passengers sitting at the back of the five-seater get a standard two-piece Panorama Roof made of sundim glass above them.

As an option the BMW M5 Touring is available with a more sophisticated range of audio, communication and navigation systems. The newly developed BMW Individual High End Audio System, for example, features the DIRAC Dual Input Room Acoustics Calculator, a digital nine-channel amplifier with DSP digital signal processing offering maximum power of 825 watts. It's supplemented by speed-related volume control and equalising, as well as a total of 16 loudspeakers.

The BMW M5 Touring comes with a five-year/100 000km BMW Motorplan and a two-year warranty.

Pricing

BMW M5 Touring: R1 050 000