The New BMW 5-Series Touring Is The Smarter Way To Carry All Your Stuff

By now, I’m sure we shouldn’t have to explain why estates - or wagons - are cooler than saloons. That’s just science fact, and few are as cool and understated as the 5-series Touring. This is why BMW caught our attention when revealing the Touring version of the all-new G30 5-series, dubbed G31.

It’s a jolly dashing lump of metal, no? And it’s also a relatively light one. As with the saloon 5er, the Touring is larger in almost every way compared to the outgoing car, and yet has dropped 100kg in weight.

That’s no real surprise, nor is the fact the saloon’s engine line-up has been mostly carried over. The range kicks off with the 188bhp 520d, with the 261bhp 530d sitting above with optional xDrive all-wheel drive.

On the petrol front there’s a 530i with a 248bhp 2.0-litre turbo four-pot, and the 540i with BMW’s b58 3.0-litre straight-six putting out 335bhp. There’s no mention of an M550i xDrive Touring just yet, but we’re crossing our fingers. The 540i is currently the quickest, dispatching 0-62mph in 5.1 seconds.

Also carried over from the four-door version is a whole host of safety gadgets. These include a cross traffic warning, pedestrian safety warning and a lane keeping and lane changing assist that’ll work at speeds of up to 130mph. Because autobahn.

In addition, BMW’s new infotainment system with gesture control functionality is present, and a new head-up display with a 70 per cent larger projection surface is optional.

Want one? It goes on sale this June, priced at £38,385 and up. It’ll make its public debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March.