Who knew football teams needed safety cars? To our surprise, the M5 Touring is not the first BMW M car to take this role for Real Madrid. The G99 replaces an SUV with the same plug-in hybrid powertrain. Yes, we’re talking about the XM. From now on, Bavaria’s super wagon will lead the security convoy at public events.
We’ll first see it on April 16 when it escorts the players to the Champions League quarterfinal match against Arsenal at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. It’ll be interesting to see whether the M5 Touring will do its route with the twin-turbo 4.4-liter V8 running. In purely electric mode, the car can cover up to 69 kilometers (43 miles) in the WLTP cycle.
The biggest wagon from BMW’s go-faster division wears a special livery in the M colors and carries the “Rethink The Game” lettering. Now in their third season together, BMW and Real Madrid have adopted this catchy slogan. If something irks us about the car, it’s that BMW didn’t bother color-matching the parking sensors with the livery. Instead, they’re black and stand out way more than they should.
Since this isn’t an actual safety car like the M5 Touring from MotoGP, it doesn’t have the light bar or the other modifications. For all intents and purposes, it’s basically a publicity stunt. Not that BMW needs to spend more marketing money on the G99 to advertise its long-roof M car. Demand is at unexpectedly high levels, forcing BMW to increase production.
While the MotoGP Safety Car has been decked out with M Performance Parts, this performance wagon is standard. It skips the carbon-ceramic brakes and also misses out on the carbon side mirror caps. BMW fitted this M5 Touring with the black 951 M wheels, which are alternatively offered in a bi-color look.
Dare we say Real Madrid’s new safety car with its M stripes sends a bit of a DTM vibe, reminding us of the M3 E30’s glory days.
Photos: BMW Spain
