Why There Could Soon Be a New BMW Sport Wagon for the U.S.
Europe really is the land of the station wagon.
BMW unveiled the new 5-Series and i5 Touring wagons on Wednesday. For now, the sibling models are European exclusives, but Car and Driver reports there have been “hints” that a high-performance variant might make its way stateside.
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The new wagons fit right in with the rest of the 5-Series family. They have the same aggressive front fascia with large kidney grilles and a smooth sculpted shape. Once you get to the B-pillar, though, things start to change drastically. That’s because the roof now extends to the rear hatch door. The new profile gives an already stylish vehicle an even more muscular air.
The interior of the wagon isn’t all that different from that of the 5-Series sedan up front. There’s a curved screen up front that includes the instrument gauge and central display. It’s also spacious with more than enough room for five. There is also a lot more storage room, according to Motor1.com. When the back row of seats is up, there’s 20.1 cubic feet of space in the truck. When the row is folded down, the amount of cargo room nearly triples to 60 cubic feet, more than its peers, the Audi A6 Avant and Mercedes-Benz E-Class wagon.
The wagon will be available with basically every kind of powertrain you could want. The 5-Series Touring comes with either a 2.0-liter four-cylinder diesel engine that produces 195 hp (the 520d), a 2.0-liter four-cylinder gas engine that produces 295 hp (the 530e), or a 3.0-liter inline-six turbodiesel that also produces 295 hp (the 540d xDriving). Each of the powertrains is either a mild- or plug-in hybrid setup. The 520d and 530e are also available with either rear or all-wheel drive, while the 540d comes standard with all-wheel drive.
The all-electric i5 Touring comes with one of two powertrains. The first features one motor and generates up to 335 hp (i5 eDrive40) and the more powerful second has a dual-motor powertrain that pumps out a maximum of 593 hp). The extra power comes at a cost—range. The single-motor i5 can travel 348 miles on a charge, while the dual-motor version can travel 314 miles on a charge.
Neither the 5-Series nor i5 Touring is coming to the U.S. anytime soon—if ever. The same can’t be said about the new M5 Touring, which has yet to be officially announced. That’s the version that Car and Driver thinks may eventually make its way stateside. There’s precedent, of course. BMW may not have released a wagon on this side of the Atlantic in years, but its competitors, Audi and Mercedes, have. Those vehicles have also been warmly received, especially among enthusiasts.
When reached for comment on Thursday, a representative for BMW told Robb Report: “I can confirm that there are currently no plans to bring the 5 Series or i5 Touring models to the US. I can’t speculate either way about future product offerings, and we haven’t said anything about other possible models on the record.”
That means we’ll have to wait until the M5 Touring is announced, likely later this year, to find out if the U.S. is getting itself another performance wagon.
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