M boss confirms there will be no BMW M5 wagon

The 2020 Audi RS 6 Avant will bring its head-turning looks and 591-horsepower twin-turbocharged V8 to the American market for the first time. It will compete in the same arena as the Mercedes-AMG E63 wagon, but BMW confirmed it won’t complete the trifecta by dropping the M5‘s powertrain into a wagon.

The pieces are there, it’s only a matter of putting them together. The M5 uses a 4.4-liter V8 twin-turbocharged to 617 horsepower in its mightiest configuration, and European buyers can order a Touring variant of the 5 Series. BMW won’t tie the two ends to create an M5 Touring because Markus Flasch, the head of its go-fast M division, believes that’s what SUVs like the X3 M are for.

“Touring estates are not part of our M plan. If I asked customers in Austria, Switzerland, or Germany they would probably give it the thumbs-up, but we are a global company, and we have so many things to deal with on the powertrain side that we don’t go into products like this,” he told British magazine Car during an interview. The decision is clear, and it’s straight from the horse’s mouth.

The powertrain-related distractions luring BMW away from a hot-rodded wagon all orbit around electrification. M’s focus on performance doesn’t exempt it from the need to make cleaner, more efficient cars sooner rather than later, and the team Flasch leads is keeping every level of electrification — from mild to full — on the table. He explained BMW is developing it all, from 48-volt mild hybrid systems to fully electric vehicles, and M has access to these components.

He didn’t reveal which type of electrification will first find its way into an M-badged car, or when, but he called the technology “the biggest change” that will shape the firm’s upcoming models. And, regardless of what his team chooses, he’s committed to making sure the end product lives up to expectations. “We have to be very careful to preserve what M stands for,” he stressed. That means it needs to deliver sharp, engaging handling, not just a jaw-dropping zero-to-60-mph time.

BMW’s electrified technology will trickle into the M division when it’s ready. In the meantime, American enthusiasts seeking a quick BMW wagon are out of luck. Actually, Americans hoping to buy any type of new BMW wagon in 2019 will need to move abroad because the company confirmed the 3 Series Touring won’t return to our shores. At least the Austrian, Swiss, and German families begging Flasch for an M5 Touring can turn to Alpina, whose all-wheel drive B5 Touring pictured above packs a 608-horsepower evolution of the M5’s twin-turbocharged V8.