BMW's New 507-hp Wagon: M5 Touring Debuts

The Geneva Motor Show is fast approaching, and BMW just unveiled a lineup including the all-new M5 Touring, or station wagon to you and me. Both the regular 5 Series sedan and wagon have been slightly updated this year, but the M5 Touring is a first. It mirrors the M5 sedan — which costs a pretty $82,500 — in horsepower, with 507, with the same V-10 engine under the hood. But the M5 Touring also has station wagon utility and an available panoramic roof, so the kids can watch clouds whiz by as you hit 62 mph in 4.8 seconds.

There’s no word if the M5 Touring will come to the U.S. or how much it will cost, but we’re not overly optimistic. BMW only sold 72 of its 530xi wagons in January, compared to 527 530xi sedans. Mercedes-Benz does sell its 507-hp E63 wagon in the U.S., and perhaps the need to compete will lure this new M5 across the pond. Check out the photo gallery below and tell us if you want to see the M5 Touring running errands in suburbia.

2007 BMW M5 Gets Manual Transmission

It’s not often that adding a manual transmission to a car is considered an improvement, but with the 500-hp V-10 BMW M5, some say it’s a necessity. When it came on the scene last year, the M5 featured a seven-speed sequential manual gearbox with paddle shifters on the steering wheel, which most people found plenty adequate — especially with the M5’s special launch mode. That got you to 60 mph in 4.1 seconds.

It’s not likely the no-cost option of a six-speed manual will get you to 60 mph any faster, but car fanatics are a picky lot who expect performance cars to have stick shifts. Otherwise, the 2007 M5 sees very little change from 2006, with an added tire pressure monitoring system and real-time traffic monitoring. Prices haven’t been announced yet, but we don’t expect much of a change from the 2006 starting figure of $81,200. Keep reading for more photos.

Update: Pricing for the 2007 M5 starts at $82,500. Destination charges are $695. While the six-speed manual is a no cost option, the gas guzzler tax for the manual is $700 more than the automatic.