New BMW 550e xDrive M Sport Touring with 483bhp on sale from £78,855

The new BMW 5 Series Touring has additional powertrain options with the BMW 550e xDrive M Sport Touring and 520i Touring.

The new BMW 5 Series Touring arrived back in February as the practical (and most appealing) version of the new 5 Series and came with the option of just three powertrains.

Predictably, the headline acts for BMW to put front and centre in its quest to persuade buyers that the ‘Ultimate Driving Machine’ is now a BMW powered by batteries, so two out of the three available powertrains were EVs.

Both powered by an 81.2kWh battery, the i5 Drive40 has a single rear motor at the back good for 335bhp, 0-62mph in 6.1 seconds and range of 348 miles, and the i5 M60 xDrive with an extra motor for a total of 592bhp and 0-62mph in 3.9 seconds and range of 314 miles.

If you didn’t want an electric 5 Series Touring the only other option was the 530e, Touring, a RWD PHEV with 295bhp and the promise of 60 miles of EV range from its 19.4kWh battery. Since then, the new M5 Touring has also arrived boasting a 717bhp PHEV powertrain.

Now it’s time for more powertrain offerings for the 5 Series Touring, with a 520i and 550e xDrive M Sport now on offer.

The BMW 550e xDrive comes with a six-pot petrol mated to the latest version of BMW eDrive, with the ICE bit delivering 309bhp aided by an electric motor housed in the eight-speed Steptronic ‘box delivering 195bhp for a combined power of 482bhp and 0-62mph in 4.4 seconds. It also comes with 11kW AC charging. Also on offer is a new BMW 520i Touring with a Mild Hybrid four-pot with 187bhp.

Now on sale, the BMW 550e xDrive Touring costs from £78,855 and the 520i Touring from £53,265.