Cue the jokes about the helicopter struggling to carry the new M5’s weight. With that out of the way, the G99 Touring made a splash at its premiere in Dubai. The local BMW dealer put the super wagon on a platform that was hoisted by a helicopter. That’s certainly a way to make an entrance. For maximum effect, the fast estate was dressed to impress in an Individual paint, Isle of Man Green.
It’s not every day we see a car up in the air while being carried by a helicopter. Once it landed on the makeshift “helipad” on a field, the M5 wagon was removed from the special platform and drove off to the designated area where the event took place. Once it got there, it was accompanied by several other M5s.
Escorted by a second helicopter, the M5 Touring had some great company at the special event organized in the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates. BMW also had the M5 Sedan G90 on display in Fire Red, a color marketed as Vegas Red in the United States. Another sedan rounded off the lineup. The performance models have now joined the XM electrified SUV in the company’s UAE lineup of plug-in hybrid M models.
Neither the sedan nor the wagon is expected to be a hot commodity in the UAE. According to BMW’s estimations, the G90’s top market will be the US “by some distance.” It should be followed by the UK, Germany, South Korea, China, Japan, and Canada. As for the more practical G99, Germany and the US are expected to be the largest markets, ahead of the UK, Canada, and Switzerland.
Since we mentioned the XM, BMW forecasts that only 8% of buyers will be from the Middle East. Some 26% should come from the US but recent sales figures have shown the plug-in hybrid SUV is not exactly popular. China is second per the company’s estimations, at 23%.
[Photos: ONLY BMW AGMC @bmw_agmc]