BMW Built a 335-HP Super Wagon Two Years Before Audi's RS2

Hot Wagon Origins


Performance wagons are a niche, but it’s one that already has its sure set of buyers. The success of models such as the current M5 Touring and Audi RS6 have shown that the formula isn’t just right for Europe, but also for America. There’s still forbidden fruit, though, such as the M3 Touring and RS 5 Avant, but the genre is proving popular enough for some automakers to consider bringing these hot wagons stateside.

But wind back the clock to the early ’90s, and we arrive at the Audi RS 2 Avant. It’s often credited as the progenitor of high-performance wagons, and understandably so. It wasn’t just a wagon with a lot of horsepower, at least for its time, but it had genuine capability that could hang with sports cars. Many other followed like the C43 AMG wagon and Volvo 850R, and go-fast wagons have been a staple of the European automotive diet since.

The thing is, there was a performance wagon that came out earlier than the RS 2 Avant. In fact, it arrived to market two years ahead of the Audi, and yet, it’s not mentioned as often. We are, of course, talking about the BMW E34 M5 Touring.


Planting its Flag First


The BMW M5 E34 Touring wagon entered the market in March 1992, which was way ahead of the RS 2 Avant’s March 1994 introduction. Prior to that, Germany hadn’t produced a performance wagon. Granted, there was the AMG Hammer from 1987, but it was more of a specialty model than production car as AMG wasn’t under the wing of Mercedes-Benz at the time. The BMW M5 E34 Touring beat Mercedes-Benz’s own E36 AMG wagon by a year.

But before the E34 M5 Touring came about, it took BMW years to even get the wagon version of the 5 Series off the ground. The E34 sedan debuted in December 1987, but the first-ever 5 Series Touring wouldn’t appear until September 1991. The car was nearly four years in the making, and it was only the second-ever BMW wagon ever produced, the first being the E30 3 Series Touring.



BMW

Impeccable Timing


Now, we don’t know BMW’s exact motivation for building the M5 Touring, but it sure made for an effective image booster for the regular 5 Series Touring. Remember, it came out just six months ahead of the M5 wagon, and seeing a performance version of it possibly made the longroof 5 Series even more desirable.

The car arrived at the right time too, as the M5 sedan had just benefitted from a host of welcome updates. Chief among which was the engine, increasing its displacement from 3.6 liters to 3.8. The 200cc gain also meant a significant horsepower and torque gain, jumping to 335 hp and 295 lb-ft from 311 hp and 266 lb-ft. Those figures were good enough for 0-60 mph times of under six seconds and a top speed governed to 155 mph. Sure, a modern turbo-four 530i can match those numbers, but back in the early ’90s, it was blisteringly fast for a practical vehicle.


Forbidden Fruit


Of course, America didn’t get the 3.8-liter engine, and the U.S M5 was sedan-only and offered from 1991 to 1993. If anything, North America never really saw the full potential of the E34 M5, and its time stateside was relatively brief. At least the 5 Series Touring was offered, if that’s any consolation.

That said, only two versions of the E34 Touring were offered in the U.S. There was the 525i with its inline-six, and the 530i packing a baby V8 under its front-hinged hood. No manuals were made available, and even the 540i Touring didn’t cross the Atlantic.


Far from Forgotten


We wouldn’t dare call the E34 M5 Touring a forgotten car. If anything, it’s acquired legendary status among BMW and wagon enthusiasts. The thing people often credit the RS 2 Avant more than the M5 Touring as the first super wagon, so, what gives? Simply put, the Audi was faster off the line, genuinely threatening sports cars and even supercars in terms of acceleration times. The M5 Touring was a fast wagon, indeed, but the RS 2 Avant was sports car chaser that happened to be a wagon.

Still, that does nothing to diminish the M5 Touring’s achievements. It was, after all, the very first European station wagon to surpass the 300 hp mark, kicking off a horsepower war among its peers. As for production and sales, only 891 were ever built, which was literally 2,000 cars less than the Audi. It was far from a resounding sales triumph being twice the price 525i Touring, but it was enough for BMW to see potential in that market.

If you need any more proof of that, BMW would revisit the idea in 2007 with the E61 M5 Touring. It came back with a vengeance with a screamer of a V10 engine among other things, and has become an icon in its own right. The thing is, that probably wouldn’t have happened if the E34 M5 Touring didn’t test the waters first. That’s all the more reason to give the very first M wagon even more credit.




BMW

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