Convincing your significant other that the family hauler needs to be a 600+ horsepower German sledgehammer is hard work. Deciding which of BMW’s fast people movers is worth the first look is, well, comparatively easier. BMW’s M division knows how to make good things great. And that almost always entails lobbing more horsepower at a car through bigger engines and angrier exhausts. Since each M car uses the same formula, the one-size-fits-all strategy works well. But for you and your needs, that doesn’t always suffice.
Of its handful of family-sized delicacies, two M-badged models stick out as being the freshest. The X5 M has long been among the best go-faster solutions for families, and that’s no different in its latest form, the X5 M Competition.
When the long-roofed M5 Touring showed up on our shores, it became the first wagon variant of any M-car to come to the United States. However, the model’s introduction began an internal competition between the firm’s two fast family transporters. We want to find out which of these two makes for the better impromptu school bus, little league limousine, and road-trip king worth the consideration of your dollar.
Apples To Apples
Model
Engine
Transmission
Power
Seating
Base MSRP
2027 M5 Touring
4.4-liter twin-turbocharged V8 PHEV
8-speed automatic
717 horsepower, 738 lb-ft. of torque
5
$125,300
2026 X5 M Competition
4.4-liter twin-turbocharged V8
8-speed automatic
617 horsepower, 553 lb-ft. of torque
5
$131,000
BMW makes several fast cars that can move the family in comfort and style, making it hard to say any is better than the others. For instance, the Alpina XB7 is considerably larger than the X5 M, and the M3 comes with a manual and is far lighter than the M5 Touring. Still, our two stars in this comparison are going against one another because they can do nearly the same things at similar prices.
Later this year, BMW will debut the 2027 X5 with a slew of powertrains carried over from the current lineup. There will also possibly be a rumored fully electric variant slotting alongside the V8-powered X5 M. For now, the 2026 X5 is still available and costs $5,700 more than the M5 Touring. However, pricing will likely change for the 2027 model.
As it is now, the X5 M Competition and the M5 Touring answer the same call. Both of them move people quickly in style. They let four extra passengers partake in the breathless horsepower oozing from each’s twin-turbo V8. BMW’s revolutionary N63 engine is in many models nowadays, but the powerplant feels more at home than in the X5 M.
Not to say the M5 doesn’t make good use of its gasoline engine, but its electric motor wedged between the engine and gearbox pitches in 194 horsepower to that 717 horsepower total, cutting the V8-only power to just 577 ponies.
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Heavy-Hitting Haulers
2026 BMW M5 Touring driving front 3/4BMW
Model
Curb Weight
Cargo Capacity
Front/Rear Pass. Volume
EPA Fuel Econ.
2027 M5 Touring
5,530 lbs.
27 cubic ft.
55/45 cubic ft.
11/17/13 MPG*
2026 X5 M Competition
5,455 lbs.
34 cubic ft.
56/50 cubic ft.
13/18/15 MPG*
*city/highway/combined
Not to beat a dead horse, but the M5 is really heavy. At 5,530 pounds, it’s 75 pounds heavier than the X5 M. As a crossover SUV, the X5 is exempt from being fat-shamed by armchair nitpickers, but the M5 is not because of its sedan roots. The hefty plug-in hybrid powertrain doesn’t help carry the torch of M5’s of old as being nimble, athletic sport sedans.
However, the M5 Touring doesn’t lug its weight around sloppily as some early reports boasted. The wagon is still one mean machine. When we tested a 2025 model for a first-drive review on the South Carolina back roads near BMW’s manufacturing facility, we found it to be finely tuned for what mattered most.
This generation of M5 is more of a weightlifter than a gymnast, further positioning the M5 in a similar category to the Dodge Charger, driving home the point that this might be BMW’s “Hellcat” era. Our only problem with the M5 Touring is its ability to be childish on track and nowhere else. You need the lawless land of a racetrack to squeeze the best from this car, little of which can be enjoyed at the fullest on open roads.
Sharp steering—similar to the old M5 CS, one editor noted—delivered quick movements over the twisty roads outside Greenville, offering a balance between the firm ride from the Audi RS6 Avant and composure over imperfections from the Mercedes-AMG E53 Wagon. Probably the best in the segment, if you can see past the “heavier than a whale” headlines which plagued the latest pair of M5 models at first.
2025 BMW M5 Touring dashboardBMW
The X5 M saves weight by omitting a plug-in hybrid system, which, as a result, ekes out an extra two miles per gallon. Likely not the first choice for enthusiasts, it’s still enough temptation for well-to-do lead foots to consider shelling out the extra $37,400 over the already excellent X5 M60i.
The “hot-vee” configuration of the two turbochargers between the cylinder banks helps the engine kick out 553 lb-ft. of torque low down at 1,800 RPM. Pin the throttle and the car shunts forward smoothly like a Japanese mag-lev bullet train. It’s one of the few SUVs capable of forgetting what it is, until you hit the curves. Then reality hits, but not as hard, thanks to its adaptive M-tuned suspension, which helps mask some of its heft.
The caveat is a stiff ride almost all the time. The X5 is a great SUV, and the X5 M makes a great thing fast, but it doesn’t change the fact that this is a high-riding family car. The X5 M offers an excellent concoction of power and comfort that requires less wrestling on highways than the Porsche Cayenne.
Both the 2026 X5 M and 2027 M5 Touring feature iDrive 8.5, a continuous 27.2-inch curved screen that connects the instrument cluster and the center infotainment screen, with crisp graphics and excellent responsiveness, as well as M xDrive, which directs power to all four corners. Despite the blatant similarities ending there, don’t go thinking it gets any easier to decide between the two.
Calling a Close Fight
The steep entry fees for each BMW are far higher than the Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna minivans in the school pickup line, but who says expensive cars can’t also be practical? The M5 Touring offers more space and usability than its sedan counterpart, and the X5 M is still, well, an X5. Fortunately, both can be had with a handful of options that don’t make the eyes water compared to others. The Executive Package—$3,100 in the X5 M, $1,600 in the M5 Touring—adds luxury amenities to make each a more opulent place to spend time.
On the sportier side, the M Driver’s Package can be optioned on both for $2,500, raising each car’s top speed from an electronically-limited 155 mph to 177 mph in the X5 M and 190 mph in the M5 Touring. You also get a day of high-performance driving instruction at one of BMW’s performance centers.
The list of extra performance features is slim for the X5. Still, the M5 Touring offers M Carbon Ceramic Brakes ($8,500) for added stopping power and M Drive Professional ($900), which unlocks two extra hybrid driving modes, Dynamic and Dynamic +, as well as track-tuned traction control and lap timer. All that is well and good for performance cars, but folks buying these rigs as family haulers probably don’t need this hardcore equipment. These cars need to perform best where it counts: chock-full of people and stuff.
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The Winner Is…
2021 BMW X5 MBMW
The M5 Touring is the better performance vehicle, but the X5 M is the better people hauler. Decisions, decisions. There might be cheaper SUVs and better-performing cars, but the X5 M and the M5 Touring offer two of the best experiences that are both practical and fast. Since practicality is what’s in question, the win has to go to the X5 M. It is going to haul more of each, and, not unlike its opponent today, offers a high level of performance to turn the cabin into a cocktail shaker. The SUV is wicked-quick, and even with all its go-faster bits, it doesn’t shed the bones that make this a great family car despite riding on large staggered 21/22-inch wheels.
The M5 Touring, however, puts up an excellent fight and won’t turn your passengers green as quickly as the X5 M would. The M5 Touring left us happy that it didn’t drive like a tank. What we felt it could do better was to have more natural-feeling dynamics. It’s no Lotus Emira, and nor do we want it to be, but we think this small class of vehicle suffers from immense weight, something we seem to mind less when behind the wheel of the BMW over the others. If you don’t need the extra space, the M5 Touring is going to be the best, second-best option against a performance SUV.
