BMW M5 Touring Cargo Test: How Much Fits in the Trunk?

• The BMW M5 Touring has 27.2 cubic feet of cargo space.
• The BMW M5 sedan's specs say it has 16.5 cubic feet, but that seems fishy.
• Our real-world testing shows how much stuff the Touring can hold.

Let's just get the sedan shenanigans out of the way first. Above, you'll see the M5 sedan's trunk. I'm sorry, there's no way in Green Hell that this is 16.5 cubic feet, at least by the measurement standard typically used. For context, that's virtually the same volume spec as a Honda Accord, which is like the Astrodome compared to what you see up there.

Now, I was only able to photograph the M5 sedan's trunk. I did not have the opportunity to fully cargo test it. But I have tested the related BMW i5, which actually has a slightly bigger 17.3-cubic-foot trunk. I can tell by the photos that it is in fact bigger than the M5's as those step-like things on the right side of its trunk are missing in the i5.

Here's some nice boilerplate information about the bags I use and their dimensions. There are two bags you'd definitely have to check at the airport: Big Gray (26 inches long x 16.5 inches wide x 12 inches deep) and Big Blue (26 x 16.5 x 10). There are three roll-aboards that usually fit as carry-on: Medium Tall (24 x 14 x 9), Medium Wide (23 x 15 x 9) and the smaller Green Bag (21 x 14 x 9.5). Finally, there's everyone's favorite Fancy Bag (21 x 12 x 11), a medium-size duffle.

This is the best I could do in the i5's trunk. This is just my four biggest bags and a whole lot of wasted space since the sedan's trunk is so short in height. In the Accord, which apparently has the same on-paper volume, I could fit all of my bags and a 38-quart cooler.

And again, the M5's trunk is even smaller than the i5's. Remember those "steps" in the M5? I used that area in the i5.

OK, so that's the sedan out of the way, let's see what the Touring wagon brings to the game.

So yeah, this is bigger. Let's unpack a few details before getting to its bag count.

The M5 Touring has a unique cargo cover. It's a pull-out cartridge design, but it uniquely travels within a track along the cargo area's sides. There are two deployment distances: half and full. When you open the liftgate, the cover automatically retracts to halfway. It does not automatically return to full, however, when you close the liftgate. This makes it inferior, in my opinion, to the cover design found in the Audi A6 Allroad and RS 6 Avant (and my old Mercedes wagon) that automatically raises along tracks in the D-pillars when you open the liftgate.

It does have its advantages, however. This is the lightest cargo cover I've ever encountered. I nearly chucked it into the ceiling when I lifted it off, expecting it to be twice as heavy. The one in my old Benz feels like it's made out of lead, whereas I'd almost guarantee this one is aluminum.

The other advantage ...

Typically, I test with and without cargo covers so you'll know the difference in capacity should you forget to preemptively remove it. That was the case in the Audi RS 6 Avant and A6 Allroad, but not with the M5 Touring. Its underfloor storage area was designed to stow the cargo cover. Well done.

OK, now let's get to the bags.

All the bags fit without even going above the seatback height. There's obviously lots of room to spare.

For context, 27.7 cubic feet would be in between a subcompact and compact SUV. It's also a bit more than the Volvo V90 Cross Country (25.5 cubic feet) but falls short of the Audi A6 siblings (30.0 cubes) and the Mercedes E 450 All-Terrain (33.1 cubes), which I will be testing soon (plus the upcoming AMG E 53 wagon).

With their cargo covers removed, the RS 6 Avant and Volvo V90 CC could hold the same bags. All could also hold even more stuff, so let's get to the bonus items.

Added to the collection is my 38-quart cooler (23 x 16 x 13) and Edmunds Golf Classic Duffle (20 x 10.5 x 10.5). This was also the maximum for the Audi and Volvo, but the bags aren't as high in the BMW and visibility is therefore better. The M5 Touring's cargo area is also boxier than the RS 6 Avant's, which allows it to make better use of the space it has. As such, the Audi does not have an advantage despite the extra cubes (although it does have an integrated cargo net, which allows you to stack to the roof without fear of anything flying forward into the cabin). The Volvo's at the bottom of the pack as the numbers suggest, but I'll hold off on declaring the M5 Touring best-in-tiny-segment until I test the E-Class in a few weeks.

I would also note that this is indeed what I've typically found in SUVs with around 27.7 cubic feet of space. The Mazda CX-50 I recently tested had virtually the same result.

So, the M5 Touring can indeed hold a whole lot of stuff. The M5 sedan, on the other hand, can barely hold more than a 4 Series Convertible. There's no question which one I'd choose ... but then again, I'm biased.