New BMW i5/5 Series Touring Breaks Cover with Up to 593 HP

The G61-gen BMW 5 Series Touring breaks cover today, arriving with a dedicated i5 EV version for the very first time.

Following a lengthy teaser campaign and several leaked images, the much-anticipated sixth-generation BMW 5 Series Touring has finally made its official global debut today. For the first time ever, this beloved fast wagon arrives with a dedicated electric version, aside from the usual petrol-gouging variants.

On the design front, the new 5 Series Touring doesn’t stray too far from its saloon counterpart, with the front half of the car looking literally the same as the sedan model. Similarly, customers can also opt for the BMW Iconic Glow lighting in case they don’t think the kidney front grille is pronounced enough.

Moving further back, the new 5 Series Touring gets a very strong shoulder line that goes all the way to the tailgate, while its sloping extended roof makes this rather chiselled and angular car look more sleek and sporty. At the rear, the wagon model gets a similar-looking slim LED taillight design and prominent black-hued rear bumper accent, while its rakish rear windscreen no longer supports a split tailgate opening like we saw on the 3 Series Touring model.

Elsewhere, the 5 Series Touring is offered with 18- and 19-inch wheels as standard, while bigger 21-inch options are available via BMW’s exterior packages like the M Sport, M Sport Pro, and many more.

The new 5 Series Touring gets the latest BMW Curved Display layout, powered by BMW OS 8.5

Inside, the new 5 Series Touring gets a very familiar cabin design layout, featuring the same BMW Curved Display as we saw on its sedan twin. Consisting of a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and a larger 14.9-inch infotainment screen, this setup runs on BMW’s latest OS 8.5, enabling it to support video streaming apps, both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, as well as the new AirConsole gaming support.

Unfortunately, BMW has not shed much light regarding the rest of the wagon’s touring, but we can see it gets the same sporty seats and flat-bottomed steering wheel – both wrapped in synthetic leather as standard. That being said, we can expect the souped-up i5 M60 version to gain several more sporty and M-specific touches.

Thanks to its extended roofline, the 5 Series wagon gets a bigger 570-litre boot space

Predictably, the 5 Series Touring edges its sedan twin on the practical side. Thanks to its extended roofline, the wagon boasts a 570-litre boot space, which can be further expanded to 1,700 litres by folding the rear seats down.

The BMW i5 Touring eDrive40 serves as the baseline EV model for the new 5 Series wagon

Following in the footsteps of its sedan twin, the new 5 Series Touring is now offered with a full-fledged EV version, which by itself comes in two trim levels. Starting with the baseline i5 eDrive40 model, it gets a rear-mounted (RWD) electric motor setup rated at 335 HP (250 kW) and 430 NM, allowing a 0-100 KM/H sprint time of 6.1 seconds. Juiced by an 81.2-kWh battery pack, the i5 eDrive40 Touring boasts a claimed WLTP range of 560 KM.

The souped-up BMW i5 M60 xDrive Touring is the sole M-badged 5 Series wagon to debut, for now...

Meanwhile, the top-specced i5 M60 xDrive Touring gets a peppier dual-motor all-wheel drive (AWD) setup rated at 593 HP (442 kW) and 820 NM, allowing a faster century sprint finish in only 3.9 seconds before hitting its electronically-governed V-max of 230 KM/H. Despite using the same battery as the eDrive40 model, this M-badged EV wagon gets a shorter WLTP range of only 506 KM.

Charging-wise, both the eDrive40 and M60 models support DCFC at up to 205 kW, while AC charging comes at either 11 kW or 22 kW, with the latter offered as an optional upgrade.

Additionally, the new 5 Series Touring also comes in a 530e plug-in hybrid variant

As for its ICE-powered twin, the new 5 Series Touring is offered with several mild hybrid (MHEV) specs, featuring a familiar 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbocharged mill as its core. For the European markets, however, the only ICE model offered is the 530e Touring plug-in hybrid (PHEV) model, which uses the same four-pot mill as its MHEV twin, albeit featuring a peppier total system output of 295 HP and 450 NM, thanks to its additional electric motor setup.

The all-new, sixth-gen BMW 5 Series Touring is now available for booking in selected international markets, including Europe, North America, and the UK. For the latter market, this fast wagon is priced from £69,040 (RM414,705) for the 530e PHEV model. While both the i5 and 5 Series Touring have already made their debuts, we have yet to see the ultimate form of this wagon, which is poised to arrive in the form of the new M5 Touring.

The BMW i5 eDrive40 saloon has already made its Malaysian debut last year

Closer to home, BMW Group Malaysia has already brought the i5 sedan into our market, with the EV saloon arriving in a single eDrive40 variant. Considering that the firm does not offer any wagon models in its local lineup, we’d reckon the new i5 Touring would make a very good case for BMW Group Malaysia to bring back an extended roof model to its model lineup.