With a 4.4-liter V8 hybrid powertrain delivering a combined total of 717 horsepower to all four wheels, there aren't many station wagons in the world that can keep up with the BMW M5 Touring. That is, until you look elsewhere in the BMW stable, and specifically the M3 CS Touring. YouTube channel Carwow recently pitted BMW's most extreme fast wagons against each other in a drag race, and the results were rather surprising, with the less powerful longroof beating the bigger brute to the quarter-mile mark by two tenths of a second, setting a time of 11.1 seconds compared to the M5's 11.3. You can watch that race and another to the half-mile mark at the bottom of this article.
BMW M3 CS Touring Beats M5 Wagon Over 1,320 Feet
According to the video, the U.K.-spec M5 Touring weighs 5,456 pounds, while the limited-edition M3 CS Touring weighs "only" 4,079 lbs. While not as powerful as the PHEV, the M3 CS is far from underpowered, claiming 543 hp from its twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six, and in the run to the half-mile mark, this deficiency was laid bare, with the M5 Touring taking the flag first by a bumper. The power deficit was more obvious in a roll race, but in every case, the lighter M3 CS was closer than the on-paper figures might suggest. Where that lower mass made an even bigger difference was in the braking test.
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The driver of the M5, Mat Watson, put the car into its most aggressive brake regeneration setting, but still failed to stop in as short a distance as the M3 CS Touring, taking an extra car length or so to come to a halt. Considering how much more buyers will be spending on tires and maintenance, that's not a good look for the M5, but at least it has greater practicality on its side. Along with being able to run in all-electric mode for an EPA-estimated 25 miles, the M5 Touring has a bigger rear end, swallowing up 27 cubic feet worth of luggage compared to the M3 CS Touring's 17.7 cubes. Not that it matters all that much to us, since the only BMW wagon sold in the United States is the M5.
M3 Wagon Could Make It to America Someday Soon
BMW
While the current M3 Touring (CS or Competition) is not sold on our shores, that may soon change. BMW wants to sell more high-performance wagons in America because our market loves the unique blend of performance and practicality, and when the M5 Touring was launched here, it created more of a buzz than BMW anticipated. With BMW turning an M3 wagon into a racing car and the Neue Klasse 3 Series' longroof variant being teased recently, the automaker is clearly committed to the bodystyle. Hopefully, this new generation of 3 Series will finally be the one to put an M3 Touring on American roads without the driveway-shattering weight of the M5.
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