A 717-hp wagon is easy to like for the first week, so the more useful update comes after the novelty wears off. Our G99 BMW M5 Touring in BMW Individual Dakar Yellow has now been with us for for 3 months and 4,000 miles, and the latest long-term video covers what only shows up once a car becomes part of the routine. BMW sells no 3 Series Touring and no 5 Series Touring in the US, which makes the M5 Touring the only factory wagon in its American lineup. We wanted it for the shape, well before the horsepower or the plug-in hybrid drivetrain came into it, and months in, that reason still holds.
What Daily Use Has Shown
We would still rather have a simple V8 with a mild-hybrid system, but the plug-in setup has earned its place. In Chicago stop-and-go traffic the M5 Touring covers about 40 miles on electric power alone, and the V8 only takes over when we switch into Dynamic or Dynamic Plus. The wagon body has earned its keep too. It has spent months carrying two car seats or boosters with room left in the back for adults, and a 64-inch TV went into the cargo area with space to spare on both sides.
Living with the car also turned up smaller discoveries, including a brake regeneration setting that, oddly, makes the ride better. We point out which one in the video.
What Wore On Us
The 16-gallon (60-liter) fuel tank is the complaint that keeps coming back. Drive the car on the sporty side and you will be at the pump more often than a car this size should require, and our best guess is that BMW kept the tank small to save weight. The other is the number of settings. The M1 and M2 buttons on the steering wheel store one configuration each, but the plug-in hybrid adds options like brake regeneration on top of the usual M menus, and two slots stopped being enough. We want a third, ideally one set up as a default for city driving. The suspension, the running costs that could come with the weight, and one complaint about the roof are all in the video.
But we would take it again? Yes, and the reason hasn’t changed. None of the complaints touch what made us want the car in the first place: it’s a fast wagon, and BMW sells exactly one in the US. Watch the video for the full list, and tell us in the comments what you’d like us to test next.
