BMW M5 Touring vs Audi RS2 Avant: spicy wagons

By James Elliott

| 13 Jan 2026

Classic & Sports Car – BMW M5 Touring vs Audi RS2: estates with extra spice

If ever a marque was more soberly regarded by the non-motoring public than BMW, it could only be Audi.

Both companies seemingly passed through the ’90s with none of the spats of utter lunacy that had previously not blotted but brought alive their copybooks.

If either were to push the boat out – nobody pushed envelopes back then – it would simply be a power boost, a suspension tweak and, if they were feeling really crazy, a stamp-sized badge for only the most knowing of anoraks to spot.

That at least is the impression both firms like to project, but the truth is different.

Via quattro and Motorsport, this pair has always dabbled in the dark side, and their Faustian pacts reached their zeniths when the world was beginning to believe that both were on strict diets of common sense and sanity.

The Audi RS2 Avant rolls, but its quattro system grips and grips

Enter the Audi RS2 and BMW M5 Touring, an automotive space-race to make the world’s maddest, baddest and fastest do-it-all station wagons.

Both of these cars were handbuilt to exacting standards, to provide the practicality and the performance of Germany’s best, but with the zest of an Italian supercar.

They were driver’s cars for those weighed down with the responsibility and paraphernalia of parenthood, yet with an unsilenceable, nagging voice of recklessness in their heads.

Both would be ferocious when unleashed yet docile when necessary. Remarkably, both succeeded in that aim, albeit in polarized fashions.

The Audi’s turbocharged ‘five’ propels the RS2 Avant to 60mph in under 5 secs

BMW was well rehearsed in the family-friendly performance car, the M535i launching one of motoring’s most respected adjuncts in 1979 by planting into the first 5 Series all the good bits from the M1, albeit with a detuned version of its 3535cc straight-six.

The twin-cam 24-valve M5 supersedan that followed – then the world’s fastest production four-door – packed 286bhp, hit 60mph from rest in barely 6 secs and cantered on to more than 150mph.

Four years later, the all-new E34 5 Series was born. The chassis remained much the same for close to a decade, but the cars and their engines were handcrafted by specialist M technicians to produce 315bhp, with 266lb ft at 4750rpm.

The BMW M5 Touring involves and rewards on the road

Capacity was raised to 3.8 liters in 1992, the same year the left-hand-drive-only Touring was launched.

It was officially limited to 155mph, but the word on the derestricted grapevine is that it’s good for an easy 170mph-plus.

That is ironic because it would take away its rival’s second-greatest claim to fame: that with a restricted top speed of 163mph (avoiding the ‘voluntary’ 155mph cap on the basis of its limited production and handbuilt nature), the Audi RS2 was the world’s fastest production wagon.

There’s no doubt that the Ingolstadt flyer had an enormous impact in its two-year life.

This BMW M5 Touring packs the 3.8-liter ‘six’

The 80- and 100-based Avants were quietly winning fans when Audi and Porsche hooked up to develop the VW Group’s first RS-spec car.

Porsche – which assembled the RS2s at Zuffenhausen – provided the brakes, plus wheels and mirrors lifted from the 968 Club Sport.

Audi offered all-wheel drive and the most scintillating version of its 2.2-liter, 20-valve five-pot. The unit that powered the Ur-quattro may be iconic, but not so much that Porsche couldn’t improve it.

A larger KKK turbo, higher-flow injectors, a new camshaft and Bosch management, with boost up from 1.1 to 1.4 bar, propelled the RS2 to 60mph in under 5 secs.

‘The BMW M5 Touring has superb roadholding on its 245/40 and 265/35 ZR18s, with flat and assured cornering’

Which brings us to its other claim to fame: the Autocar test in which it fizzed from 0-30mph in 1.5 secs, its grunt and four-wheel-drive helping it to a quicker time than either the McLaren F1 or even a Formula One car.

A whiff of PR stunt surrounds the RS2, but it does nothing to detract from the reality. It may even look cynical, but it is beautifully menacing with a real sense of purpose.

Most were blue with color-coded spoilers, five-spoke alloys and a splitter, but few other signposts of the fearsome motor beneath.

It wears its Porsche heart on its sleeve with fender and tail badges: even the Brembo calipers bear the Stuttgart legend.

The Audi RS2 Avant doesn’t keep quiet about Porsche’s involvement

That’s plenty, as it turns out, because although the Audi might have been passed off as the ultimate stealth fighter in its day, it is the BMW that looks more understated.

A late run-out car with wider kidney grille and bigger wheels, this is virtually indistinguishable visually from any other 5 Series Touring.

The fat 18in alloys and six-speed gearlever could give the game away, but little else will.

Parked side-by-side, the two cars look of surprisingly similar dimensions, but that doesn’t carry over to the interiors, the vastness of the BMW in stark contrast to the Audi’s restrained intimacy. One feels bigger than it is, the other smaller.

‘It doesn’t take a genius to work out which would clean up at a track day and which could tug a caravan up Kilimanjaro’

The figures say the BMW is 2in wider and 9in longer, but it is in width that they feel most different, the Audi positively petite, inside and on the road, in comparison.

Some things you notice straight away: the practical 90° opening rear doors of the Audi, but equally the station-wagon trunk with a smaller capacity than many a sedan.

With the BMW it is its low stance and aggressive gait, plus a proper, practical tailgate and acres of space.

Each is beautifully made, yet the Audi immediately feels smaller, lighter and less engineered, not least the nice-idea-on-paper clumsy hood latch sprouting from one of the interlocked rings.

The Audi RS2 Avant is actually quite small, and load space isn’t top of the class

The BMW doesn’t feel better built, just tougher and more thoughtfully put together, as if it expected to be judged on build quality as much as on performance.

Inside, the twin visions of super-wagon are equally bifocal. The otherwise subtle Audi is Gold Oyster flash beside the BMW’s pure understated charm.

With a three-spoke leather-bound wheel and tastefully garish blue Alcantara, the RS2’s trim is in stark contrast to the restrained ergonomics of its stalks and buttons.

It may seem much more modern and tidy inside and out, but is only ever going to be a four-seater, whereas you could get four plus Posh Spice in the BMW.

The Audi RS2’s eye-catching but comfortable cabin

Similarly, the opulent, leather-swathed M5 hides its sporting nature better and is more lived-in and more liveable, with thick, cossetting seats rather than the Audi’s thinner, lighter Recaro items.

BMW wants you to know it values the driver, too. At the helm of the four-spoke splayed wheel, all instruments are tilted towards you – 300kph speedo, 8000rpm (7000 redline) rev counter, same as the Audi.

There’s a lovely M Sport-badged stubby gearlever, organ throttle and just two stalks: all the clunky grandeur remnants of the 635. Which is a good thing.

The gradual dissolution of any notion that these cars go about their business in the same way is catalysed on the road.

The BMW M5 Touring has more space than the 9in-shorter Audi

One of those happy little myths worth repeating is that M5 test drivers could tell who had built each and every car by its individuality.

Nice idea, but so solid and Tarmac-flattening is this 3814lb flying girder beside the 3509lb Audi that the epithet seems ludicrous.

A more apt tribute would be reports from devotees that E34 M5s are getting rare in Germany because Scandinavians are snapping them all up.

That they are revered across Europe’s most grueling testing ground, by its most committed drivers, speaks volumes.

The appeal is easy to fathom. The BMW initially feels chunkier and even cumbersome, but open it up and it is a different story.

The BMW M5 Touring’s restrained cabin with stubby gearlever

All of the responses are harder and heavier and the performance requires more cajoling out of the car.

It still feels big on the road, but there is a faithful carthorse quality to its rugged simplicity.

It’s as efficient as it is engaging and offers huge globs of low-down torque.

The M5 is happy in traffic, but at speed it starts a relentless churn that feels as if it will never end.

It has superb roadholding on its 245/40 and 265/35 ZR18s, with flat and assured cornering.

The Audi, though light and instant, is nannying in comparison and feels, well, Italian. With stiffer dampers and anti-roll bars than its siblings, the ride is hard.

The Audi RS2 Avant beat the McLaren F1 to 30mph in Autocar’s test

The roll in corners is a surprise, but, squatting on 245/40 ZR17s, it corners as if it’s wearing running spikes.

Pick-up is ferocious and the ’box is light, but every change kicks through the drivetrain and the steering, which is otherwise light and precise.

It’s hard to fault, more lunatic but less fun than the M5 maybe, but a marvelously engineered machine with all the qualities of a Lancia Delta Integrale, minus the frailty.

Cometh the hour for cornering photos, cometh the deluge. Chop in late, kick down a gear, nail it mid-corner and we flick the BMW’s tail out at barely 20mph, while the Audi never loses grip.

Stuttgart’s input is confirmed by the ‘powered by Porsche’ tag on the Audi RS2 Avant’s engine

But while the M5 slides for fun and is easy to control, the thought of what would happen when the RS2 unsticks is terrifying.

The BMW feels more altruistic in its desire to reward, with the realization that driving shouldn’t be a passive activity.

Not that the Audi is passive: indeed there are few higher accolades than dubbing it an Integrale wagon.

Both these classic cars drip in modern comforts with electric everything, plus power and handling to better all that came before and match most that have come since.

They might just be the last of the real cars – cars that serve the driver more than the government.

The BMW M5 Touring was limited to 155mph, but apparently it’s capable of 170mph-plus

Yet it doesn’t take a genius to work out which one would clean up on a track day and which could tug a caravan up Kilimanjaro.

The heart says Audi, the mind counters with BMW.

The heart says the lighter, more responsive car with the unburstable five-pot might be more robust; the mind says BMW, a bit louder.

If you want a traditional German car that feels like a traditional German car, buy the BMW.

If you want loopy Teutonic engineering that’s fluent in Italian, take the Audi.

Images: James Mann

Thanks to: Martin Pearse of MCP Motorsport and Ian Elliott

This was first in our February 2007 magazine; all information was correct at the date of original publication

BMW M5 Touring and Audi RS2 Avant: buyer’s checklists

Audi RS2 Avant

Bodywork

Galvanized bodies shouldn’t rust, but check all trim parts: they’re easily damaged and costly. Bumpers are unique; tail-light bar, which can crack, is pricey to replace

Mechanical

It’s turbocharged, so watch for blue or white smoke under load and when lifting off after hard use – this can point to turbo failure
If the car seems down on power it may just be due to leaking pipework – try to fit a graduated boost gage while testing to check the pressure
Transmission whine is rare but still possible
More common causes of whining are the front and rear wheel bearings
Brakes are the big cost on the RS2: the calipers are magnesium and don’t take kindly to salted roads in winter. Just pads and discs alone are big money
Clutches should last for 120,000 miles
Power-steering pumps can fail: look for a leak at the front of the engine bay
Check for overheating – the radiator can be damaged from below by speed humps
Gear linkages can be a little sloppy due to worn bushes on the ’box

Electrical

Air conditioning is the main electrical bugbear – if the compressor fails, most of the dashboard has to come out to get at the parts (at least 16 hours’ labor)
Check that all switches and dash lights work: not dear to replace, but time-consuming

Other

Inspect for damaged intercooler fins, repaired front bumpers and disturbed wing bolts under the bonnet as signs of accidents
The service book should have a sticker for the chassis number and a unique Porsche build number
Early servicing should have been at a main dealer; independents more likely later on
The Porsche wheels are expensive and can suffer from flat-spots if they have hit potholes heavily
Lurid but comfy interior; RS2 rolls but grips and grips; Stuttgart input confirmed by the ‘powered by Porsche’ tag

BMW M5 Touring (E34)

Bodywork

Generally durable, but check at the bottom of the doors (under plastic trims)
Inspect thoroughly for accident damage: panel gaps, underneath and tire wear

Mechanical

Suspension bushes can wear after 100,000 miles and the car will appear to wander
Rear subframe rubbers are an MoT failure and costly to replace
Overheating may be a sign of a broken cooling-fan clutch
Beware of whining manual gearboxes – they’re expensive to fix. Six-speed manual Getrag ’box with revised clutch (from May 1994) is more expensive to rebuild
Look for smoke from worn valve-stem seals
Check for exhaust problems, because the 3.8-liter engine uses special catalysts
Uneven tire wear could indicate damage to the front suspension and steering
Optional Nürburgring suspension can be troublesome, defaulting to the hardest setting when it fails. New dampers are hugely expensive
Check for ABS problems
Steering box and links wear
Misfiring may be costly: distributorless ignition means a coil for each cylinder

Electrical

Check that heater-blower fan works at all settings, not just full speed
Digital odometers can easily be reprogramed; check for proof of mileage. The service-indicator light is also simple to reset, so check the paperwork. Erratic readouts can be caused by faulty printed circuit boards, costly to replace
Intermittent electrical problems may be due to a failing fuse

Other

Wiper linkages can go out of alignment: arms park further down than they should
Check that the factory toolkit is complete

Factfiles

Audi RS2 Avant

Sold/number built 1993-’95/2891 (including 80 factory right-hand-drive models)
Construction steel monocoque
Engine iron-block, alloy-head, dohc 2226cc ‘five’, with Bosch Motronic 2.3 injection plus a KKK turbocharger with intercooler
Max power 315bhp @ 6500rpm
Max torque 302lb ft @ 3000rpm
Transmission six-speed manual, 4WD
Suspension independent, at front by MacPherson struts rear double wishbones, coil springs, telescopic dampers; anti-roll bar f/r
Steering power-assisted rack and pinion
Brakes 304mm ventilated front, 299mm solid rear discs, with servo and ABS
Length 14ft 9½in (4508mm)
Width 5ft 7in (1702mm)
Height 4ft 6in (1372mm)
Wheelbase 8ft 6in (2591mm)
Weight 3509lb (1591kg)
0-60mph 4.9 secs
Top speed 163mph
Mpg 25.9

BMW M5 Touring (E34)

Sold/number built 1992-’95/891
Construction steel monocoque
Engine iron-block, alloy-head, dohc 3795cc straight-six with Bosch Motronic 3.3 fuel injection
Max power 340bhp @ 6900rpm
Max torque 295lb ft @ 4750rpm
Transmission five-speed manual (six-speed from 1994), RWD
Suspension Adaptive M Technic III, independent all round, at front by MacPherson struts, rear semi-trailing arms; electronic telescopic dampers, anti-roll bar f/r; optional stiffer Nürburgring set-up
Steering ZF Servotronic power-assisted recirculating ball
Brakes 315/345mm ventilated front, 300/328mm solid rear discs, with servo and ABS
Length 15ft 5¾in (4718mm)
Width 5ft 9in (1753mm)
Height 4ft 7½in (1410mm)
Wheelbase 9ft ½in (2756mm)
Weight 3814lb (1730kg)
0-60mph 6.5 secs
Top speed 155mph
Mpg 17