BMW M5 Touring Is Big On Tech And Performance

What astounds more than its outright speed is the big car's alacrity around a Formula One racetrack

- Edric Pan

Make way for the newest, baddest BMW M5. Make lots of room actually, because it is a big car.

At 5.1m long, it equals the last-generation, standard-wheelbase 7-series for length and is, in fact, quite a bit wider and taller than its nominal big brother.

Its aggressively scooped-and-vented front and rear bumpers, quad tailpipes and flared front and rear wheel arches are telltale signs of a super saloon.

Inside, it feels every bit as substantial as it looks on the outside. There is the same cockpit tech fest that you find on every other 5-series, with an LCD plank spanning two-thirds of the dashboard and containing the instrument and infotainment displays.

The cabin is further jazzed up with blue-and-red backlighting for some of the fascia accent strips and a fat-rimmed multifunction steering wheel with a red stripe at the 12 o'clock position.

A pair of very chunky sports seats with the M5 logo grip you snugly with their side bolsters, which can be adjusted electrically, though they eat slightly into the rear legroom.

That feeling of heft is not an illusion - the latest M5 weighs nearly 500kg more than the old one - 2,435kg for the saloon and 2,475kg for the Touring version that is test-driven.

And yet the car is monster-fast, hitting 0-100kmh in 3.6 seconds and 200kmh just 7.4 seconds later. Off the line, it vaults away on a tsunami of instant torque, most of which is electric, given that this is the first plug-in hybrid M5.