It’s been more than a decade since BMW last sold an M wagon as the M5 E61 bowed out back in 2010. There had been a short-lived E34 before it, but it’s only now the smaller M3 is getting the long-roof treatment. The idea of an AMG C63 Estate rival is far from being new considering the E46 M3 Touring was conceived in 2000. Sadly, it remained at the concept stage, and now, the G81 BMW M3 Touring is heading to showrooms.

First Ever M3 Touring

Proving a predictable car isn’t always a bad thing, the new high-performance BMW M3 Touring is indeed an M3 Sedan turned into a wagon in the best way possible. From the B-pillar forward, the two cars are virtually identical. There’s no carbon fiber roof on the estate where it comes as standard with a high-gloss black finish also applied to the roof rails. You can also have the roof in the same color as the rest of the body while the spoiler at the back was specially developed and 3D-printed for the M3 Touring.

BMW M3 Touring is 85 millimeters longer externally than the BMW 3 Series Touring, at 4,794 millimeters, 76 millimeters wider (1,903 millimeters) and four millimeters lower (1,436 millimeters).

Only Competition, Auto and xDrive

As we’ve been saying all along, the new M3 Touring is offered exclusively in the Competition guise, so only with an automatic transmission. It’s also an xDrive-only affair in the same vein as the Audi RS4 Avant and the next-generation Mercedes-AMG C63 Estate. The eight-speed M Steptronic sends 510 horsepower and 650 Newton-meters (479 pound-feet) of torque to both axles.

BMW says the speedy wagon will do 0 to 62 mph (100 km/h) in 3.6 seconds, thus making it only a tenth of a second slower than the M3 Sedan. From rest, it takes 12.9 seconds to reach 124 mph (200 km/h) en route to 155 mph (250 km/h). Opt for the M Driver’s Package and it will loosen up the electronic top speed limiter to 174 mph (280 km/h).

More important than outright speed in a real-life scenario while overtaking is the pulling power in the midrange. The M3 Touring takes 2.7 seconds from 50 to 75 mph (80 to 120 km/h) in fourth gear or 3.5 seconds in fifth gear. When it’s time to stop, you’ll be able to count on optional carbon-ceramic brakes. The athletic wagon sits on 19-inch front and 20-inch forged wheels wrapped around in meaty 275/35 ZR19 and 285/30 ZR20 tires.

BMW’s engineers have gone to great lengths to make the M3 Touring feel as agile as its Sedan sibling by significantly tweaking the chassis. The car has an almost 50:50 weight distribution and bespoke parts such as the strengthening links to connect the spring strut towers. To further bolster stiffness, there are underfloor bracing elements varying from a crossbar to a new rear axle subframe.

M Race Track Package

At an additional cost, the M3 Touring can be fitted with an M Race Track Package encompassing those ceramic brakes along with front bucket seats. It also includes the M Driver’s Package, track-oriented tires, and carbon fiber trim strips on the inside. Other noteworthy extras include the laser headlights found in the M3 Sedan, but they’re not the sharper-looking lights introduced with the 3 Series LCI. As for the quad 100-mm exhaust tips, they come in high-gloss black but can be optionally had in chrome as well.

Being a full-fat M car, there are a lot of ways to customize the M3 Touring. BMW has developed an M Carbon exterior package bringing CFRP side mirror caps along with carbon inlays for the front air intakes and a different rear diffuser made from the same lightweight material. Inside, an optional Merino full leather upholstery will be offered.

iDrive 8 and Curved Display

Speaking of the interior, the M3 Touring gets the iDrive 8 of the 2023 M3 Sedan and the 3 Series LCI. It combines a fully digital 12.3-inch instrument cluster with a 14.9-inch touchscreen housed within a single piece of curved glass as seen on other models, including the similarly sized i4.

With this being a wagon, its extra practicality over the regular saloon will be appreciated. The rear bench has a 40:20:40 split configuration and can be folded to increase cargo volume from 500 to 1,510 liters. You’ll be happy to hear these numbers are identical to those of a lesser 3 Series Touring. Since it’s a BMW wagon at the end of the day, you can still open the rear glass separately from the tailgate.

Taking into account that the M3 Touring arrives with the facelifted 3 Series, it’s going to have a relatively short life cycle. Thankfully, BMW has told us it’s a permanent member of the lineup rather than a limited-run special edition like the M4 CSL.

The first BMW M3 Touring celebrates its world premiere in June 2022 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in England. Alongside its home market Germany, the UK is the most important sales region for the BMW M3 Touring. Beyond those two countries, sales of the new model will be concentrated primarily in Switzerland, Belgium, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Japan. The market launch of the new BMW M3 Touring will begin from the start of production in November 2022, with customers able to place orders from September 2022.

Source: BMW

BMW M3 Touring Chalk Grey

BMW M3 Touring Interior

BMW M3 Touring Frozen Black

BMW M3 Touring Studio Photos

BMW M3 Touring Specs

BMW M3 Touring Sketches