2025 BMW i5 Touring: Australian pricing revealed, third-quarter launch set

BMW’s gone and revealed an electric wagon – and it’s coming to Australia.

There are days when it is hard, as a journalist, to keep personal interest out of the reporting. This is one of those days, because the world needs more wagons and this writer, frankly, can't get enough of them.

Unveiled today alongside the regular petrol 5 Series Touring that won’t come to Australia (officially a “not at this stage” proposition), the new i5 Touring electric wagon is set for a third-quarter Australian launch.

36

Buyers will be asked for $219,900 to slip into an i5 wagon, launching exclusively in flagship M60 xDrive form.

That makes it markedly more expensive than the $155,900 i5 eDrive40 sedan, but it’s also a lot more powerful: 442kW/820Nm in the wagon plays 250kW/430Nm in the sedan. The M60’s big numbers are courtesy of a dual-motor setup, giving it the all-paw status hinted at by its xDrive name. Of course, the sedan can also be had in M60 form, which will bring you much closer to the wagon at $215,900 before on-road costs.

2024/5 BMW 5 Series pricing

2024/5 BMW 5 Series specs

The Basics

36

Energy in the i5 Touring is provided by an 84kWh battery pack (81.2kWh usable), and BMW says it’ll power to 100km/h in just 3.9 seconds.

Driving range is listed at “up to” 506 kilometres on the WLTP test, although that will fall considerably if you test that 0-100km/h claim a few too many times.

On the plus side, its high-voltage design will allow the i5 Touring to charge at up to 205kW on an ultra-fast DC charger, which should see it go from 10 to 80% in around 30 minutes.

Buyers of the i5 Touring also benefit from a complimentary five-year subscription to the Chargefox network.

36

Like the sedan, the new 5 Series touring wagon – and thus the i5 Touring as well – is bigger in every dimension than its predecessor, moving into the space left behind by the titanic new 7 Series limousine.

At 5060mm long, 1900mm wide and 1515mm tall, the new 5er wagon is 97mm longer, 32mm wider and 17mm taller than its predecessor.

It also rides on a 20mm-longer wheelbase, at 2995mm – just about matching the Hyundai Ioniq 5, lauded for the exceptional interior space provided by its stretched wheelbase.

In the i5 Touring, that should result in acres of rear legroom, and BMW also promises 570 litres of rear storage with the second row’s seats upright, growing to 1700 litres with those pews flipped down.

36

In the front row, the i5 Touring features a 12.3-inch driver display and a 14.9-inch main screen, which means BMW is still resisting the wild full-dash display setups that have started to appear in Mercedes, Porsche and (overseas) Ford models, among others.

The new Google-enhanced iDrive 8.5 operating system brings a fresh look with new QuickSelect features, integrating with the also-standard heads-up display, digital instrument cluster and gesture control.

The high asking price is damped somewhat by the i5 Touring M60 xDrive’s standard equipment list, which also includes such luxuries as BMW Individual Merino leather trim, available in three contrast colourways. There’s also Swarovski-made ‘BMW Crafted Clarity Glass’ on the iDrive controller dial, start/stop button, volume roller and gear selector.

More ‘conventional’ features include a panoramic sunroof and 17-speaker Bowers & Wilkins surround sound.

36

When will the BMW i5 Touring be available in Australia?

Your BMW dealer will likely take an i5 Touring order right now, but deliveries will begin in the third quarter of 2024.