At Long Last, the BMW M5 Touring Is Officially Coming to the US

Wagon lovers, rejoice! A new performance wagon is upon us in America, which is an unlikely twist in today's auto market saturated by crossovers and SUVs. BMW has confirmed that the upcoming M5 Touring will be coming to the United States, where it will compete with the likes of the Audi RS6 Avant and the Mercedes-AMG E63 wagon. This is the first time that an M5 Touring has been sold in America, in the model's long history going back to the legendary E34 wagon from 1992.

It's not exactly a surprise that the BMW M5 Touring has been confirmed for the States—rumors to that effect had circulated for months—but the official confirmation is welcome news. Sedans and wagons have taken a backseat to trucks, crossovers, and SUVs on the U.S. market lately, forcing such stalwart wagon makers like Volvo to abandon them in favor of other vehicles. Audi shocked the auto world with its RS6 Avant, but fans implicitly understood such a vehicle was a moonshot that was unlikely to inspire rival automakers to bring out their own fire-breathing wagons.

That's what BMW is doing with the release of the M5 Touring, which is both a product of the German carmaker's storied M division and the latest revival of the Touring badge. This new model marks the third generation of the M5 Touring, and the latest wagon will succeed the E34 and E61 models, released in 1992 and 2007, respectively. Neither of those were sold in the U.S., likely due to little demand from buyers here for performance wagons.