[msej449]

The Touring appeals to a significant segment of buyers, like me (325i Touring, 525tds Touring, 528i Touring and 330d xDrive Touring) because it's like a Saloon/GT when you're on a daily drive, or carrying passengers, or on your own on sporty roads, but has the extra load capacity of many SUVs when you need it. Which isn't to diss SUVs or any other body type, just to point out that it it has it's own appeal.

An M Touring gives a buyer like me an option to stay on a Touring platform but get even more performance and handling out of it. Like an X5M does for a X5 devotee.

The X5 desn't work for me because it's big and heavy and for the larger external dimensions, I don't get a proportionate increase in internal dimensions. The extra load carrying capacity comes at too big a cost in weight, size and handling. But the Touring does work, because when I don't need the storage, it's just like a coupé or GT as far as the driver's concerned. And if I want the ultimate performance/handling, then I look to the 'M'.

It may well be that in the US, the X5 works better because - from what people report on the 2 forum - you seem to have a much higher proportion of poor roads. The 2 Forum is replete with people complaining about pothole blow-outs: something which is extremely rare for most Western Europe owners. So I can see why people go for the X and GT variants, because they can handle poor roads better. And why the idea of forking out for any 'M' model seems pointless, because the handling and performance often can't be exploited.

But if you are in an area with reasonable road conditions and a relatively high speed limit, then the Touring makes perfect sense (as explained above), and for a certain driver looking for more performance/handling, the M Touring also makes sense.