The butterflies came back in my stomach last week. It was a dark Friday – the nth consecutive day of continuous rain and no full day of sun. That particular day was very unpredictable as Emong was about to make landfall on the northwest while Dante was pulling him (and also bringing in rains) from the northeast. Still, I woke up early and left my home in Bulacan to go north. BMW was unveiling something new. I don’t know what but I told myself I need to see a new car to brighten my week.
It was my first time back in a BMW showroom for almost a decade. The last time I was with them, they were still with the previous distributor. Good thing I saw familiar faces that instantly made the place very homey. Stepping into the main area, I saw two cars covered up. I sat on the right most table in front and there I saw it. The rear end of a wagon.
I first had an affinity for wagons during my childhood. We had a sedan back then and our neighbor had a Volvo wagon. I was simply amazed at the amount of space it had at the back. Later on, I realized it’s the most practical car since it had the luggage space almost equal to an SUV, but your things won’t heat up unlike in the trunk, while having the same seating capacity and ride comfort of a sedan.
Just a bit of trivia. Americans call it “station wagons” because it was used to get families and their things from train stations and onto their homes. Meanwhile, Europeans call it “estates” because the upper classes use it as transportation to and from their large homes or manors – also called estates. Anyway.
It wasn’t long before they unveiled the beauty underneath. The all-new BMW M5 Touring made its official debut in the Philippines, and it sent butterflies to my stomach. Both estate and sedan forms were fully spec’d out, and powered by the same M-Hybrid Drive System. It has a total output of 727 horsepower and 1,000 Nm of torque. I already imagined the M5 Touring snaking through the Asin Road towards Baguio, good lord. The best thing about it is the two are priced the same at PHP 12,790,000.
Paolo Abrera, the host, rightfully called it the crowd favorite. Me and my colleagues took turns capturing photos of the M5 Touring first, before the sedan. I was a bit more biased as I only took 1 photo of the sedan – a front quarter shot – and focused all my energy on the luscious estate clad in Marina Bay Blue Metallic finish.
The funny thing is I’m not alone in this giddy crush for the wagon. I was talking to some of my colleagues and most of them would also prefer the estate. Of course, there’s the usual banter of “how many will you buy?” I was even considering asking my editor for a massive raise, just so I can afford the M5 Touring. Once I got home and checked social media, most outlets had more photos of the estate than the sedan. Not really surprising if you have acquired the taste of the estates.
It’s just sad that the things that made estates awesome are also the reasons why it wasn’t popular in the Philippines. Its low ground clearance is not good for our tall humps (because of many speeding cars in residential areas!) and bad roads (looking at you, south expressways!). The rear shape is also an acquired taste as more people are exposed to sedans, hatchbacks, and SUVs from mainstream media. When was the last time you’ve seen a cool wagon in a series or film? Even the one in That 70s Show was unsightly.
The last time we had an attainable estate in the market was back in 2018, when Volkswagen launched the Santana GTS. Its cargo space with the rear seat up was 327 liters compared to today’s Honda City Hatchback that only has 289L. Unfortunately, it’s in limbo even before the pandemic.
There are other estates in the market but on the pricey side. There’s the Subaru WRX Wagon and Outback (technically not a wagon but it has the same stance). Mazda also maintains their Mazda 6 wagon in their lineup. Audi also has the RS 6 Avant Performance which is another very hot wagon.
Hopefully, BYD gets a bit crazy and brings in the Seal 06 DM-i Touring into the Philippines. It may be redundant to the recently launched Seal 05 DM-i but hey, the 06 is more beautiful. Who knows, the taste for estate might trickle down to the mass market customers now. Oh wait, the roads are worse because of the typhoons.
