Timing is everything. When BMW launched the M5 Touring to the world in 1992, the first time the badge had been placed on a luxury car, it must have seemed like a major coup. The character of motorsport combined with practicality, if a little jarring, was unheard of at the time, and would certainly have likely tempted some potential buyers.
Then came Audi. By 1994, Audi introduced the RS2 and set the template for the go-fast vehicle to follow: turbocharged for torque, all-wheel drive for traction, compact and practical for whatever life threw at it. With Porsche inputs as the cherry on top. Audi ended up making more than initially expected, and that was the order (2,900), in less time than it took to produce 891 Touring cars out of 12,000 total E34 M5s. The fact that there was no immediate replacement for BMW, while Audi was pushing fast family SUVs, has left the first M Touring on the fringes of M5 fandom for some time. It’s certainly fascinating, yes – but it’s more of a footnote than a chapter in its own right.
Now, however, M-cars are back in action. It’s been a tumultuous ride at times, with a runaway V10 showing up at a time when it was least expected, and two generations that certainly fit the Touring treatment but never got it, though there’s finally an M5 with a big boot available for purchase around the world. And that’s very good. In fact, for the first time in history, there is an M3 and M5 Tour is available to order. Thank God, maybe the world isn’t so bad after all. Sure, the 3 Series still has those grilles while the 5 Series is heavy, but two imperfect M Tourings look a lot better than nothing at all.
The presence of the dynamic duo in showrooms brings the E34, which has long been elusive, into sharper focus. Firstly, as a starting point, but also for the kind of coolness that comes from being a rediscovered icon in the 90s. That’s why BMW brought it along, along with a host of other historic M5s, to drive with the launch of the new G90/G99. For PH pinching the keys.
The E34 wagon arrived as part of a wider facelift for the entire M5 range. The saloon received a 3.8-litre, 340bhp version of the S38 straight-six at the time, so all Touring cars had it too. It launched with a five-speed manual, with later cars getting a six-speed and electronic damper control. “Largely hand-finished” is BMW’s line in building E34 M5s, with the brakes and suspension upgraded to make them ride like an M car, including a composite braking system to lower temperatures and improve performance. Weighing just 70kg heavier than the saloon (1,720kg versus 1,650kg), BMW states that “the race-based technology of the BMW M5 Sedan has been carried over with minimal modifications.” All Journeys built were left-hand drive, and were never officially offered in the UK.
So seeing one anywhere more than 30 years later is exciting enough, let alone a BMW Classic example, complete with special on-board power outputs, just 25,000km on the clock, and glorious specification: the famous drop-cast alloys, a gorgeous deep sea blue colour. (Help us please BMW fans), and luxurious waxed ivory leather makes the perfect contrast. This must be a special build in this period since there is so much leather and so much veneer, but even the standard M5 pieces feel unquestionably solid. And luxurious, in a strange way. The assumption is often that M has meant motorsport for a very long time after CSLs and M1s, but just a year after the last E30 M3, this looks like a very proper, luxurious estate – that is, much more than we think of a modern M car. Complete with car phone, climate control, and automatically dipping electric mirrors.
Of course, it doesn’t take long on the road to recognize that there’s undoubtedly some BMW Motorsport in the M5, and it’s under the hood. If it’s inevitably a little silent, there’s very little to rival the experience of BMW’s single-throttle-body, S-specific six-cylinder. It’s both very urgent and very willing, lunging forward at the slightest throttle opening while its greedy six-cylinder takes in all the air And the fuel it can propel. The 3.8 snarls, barks, and files like just an inline-six, guttural under load and then howling to redline with abandon. The incongruous marriage of this engine and this body style doesn’t quite make sense, as it does with the later E61 V10, although it is exciting.
In fact, such is the enthusiasm for revs that it’s easy to overlook for a while since there’s not a lot of torque in the M5 Touring. 295 lb-ft is the same as a 540i of that era, and less than today’s M135, which also weighs less. Plus the peak won’t arrive until 4750 rpm, so sometimes the E34 can be caught off guard, and have you frantically moving around the manual (still like a very large fork in a larger bowl of pasta) for a little more get up and go . Maybe worth it for a touring car, if it’s still suboptimal for a family in a hurry. Spending some time on this makes it clear that the M5 Touring would have been a really tough sell if it had used the previous model’s 3.6-litre S38 that the saloon has used since 1988, with just 315bhp and 266lb-ft.
Once you get up to speed, whether it’s slowly but surely from high gear or chasing every last lap, the M5 Touring is an absolute must-have. There are some highways near BMW’s press center in Garching, and the E34 happily sits at triple-digit cruising speeds as if it were meant to do nothing else. There’s some engine noise without sixth gear (there are said to be only later 209s with the extra gear), though of course it’s as smooth as velvet, and its composure can’t be faulted. It tracks like a high-speed train, and is ready for whatever European capital (or ski resort) you’re headed to next.
And if it’s softer than a modern M car, the Touring isn’t a bad M5 to drive either. Everything will inevitably be more deliberate, although there is still progress to be made and balance to be appreciated on the odd corner off the motorway. That almost hyper-responsive nature that characterizes new M cars – big or small – is not present here, everything requires a little more effort and thought. The steering in particular is from the bad old BMW days, when it was boxy rather than toothed: slow and not particularly helpful, a feeling exacerbated by the captain’s wheel in front of you. However, the brakes are impressive – certainly not always foolproof in fast BMWs of old – and that sense of perfect load balance between the front steering axle and the moving rear axle can be felt here. Considering the age and condition, no one was going crazy, yet the E34 certainly feels like an M car and not just a 5 Series with a big engine. Sound, skin and phone aside, it delivers amazing sound in a way no 540i can. Just as it should.
There’s more of the modern M car mold than imaginable here too. Because like it or not, the more family-focused models are now the best sellers, with SUVs providing the bulk of M sales. And you can bet North America will hit the G99. The combination of an exciting M powertrain with space and a sense of occasion is more popular than ever, a trend that started (and then paused for a long time), with the E34 M5 Touring. So for a compact M car, it’s very important.
But let’s be perfectly clear: not every practical M car reaches champion status, because not every practical M car is very good. You will have your own candidates for this category. The first M5 Touring is a PH Hero because it retains much of what made the great M5 saloon so good, particularly in 3.8-litre form, and then combines that finesse into a very impressive estate body. A seemingly simple, yet expertly executed task – creating code in the process. These days, you’ll be looking for M5 Tourings all over Europe, and you’ll pay a hefty premium over the equivalent saloon, but with M wagons finally back in fashion, the original has never looked so powerful. And now, finally, the time has come.
Specifications | BMW M5 Touring (E34)
engine: 3,795 cc straight-six
Transition: 5 speed manual, rear wheel drive, LSD
Power(hp): 340@6,900 rpm
Torque (lb-ft): 295@4,750 rpm
0-62 mph: 5.9 seconds
top gear: 155 mph
weight: 1,720 kg
mpg: Less than a new one
carbon dioxide: More than one new one
For sale: 1992-1995
New price: nothing
Price now: From £40,000 (if you can find one!)