- It’s an M3 estate!
- Munich’s forbidden fruit has arrived
- Available to order in September 2022
BMW’s worst kept secret is finally out. This is the new M3 Touring, revealed ahead of the 2022 Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Yes, you keyboard warriors out there asking for cars you’ll never actually buy can rest easy as BMW has finally listened to your requests. The new M3 Touring is the first-ever estate version of one of the brand’s most iconic M cars, which BMW boasts has all the practical features you expect of a 21st century wagon with all the scintillating performance specs expected of an M3.
What powers it?
Well, here in the UK, we get the M3 Competition Touring only. That means a 503bhp/479lb ft turbocharged straight-six, meaning a 3.6sec 0-62mph sprint time and a limited top speed of 155mph (which can be upped to 174mph with the M Driver’s Pack).
Like the regular M3 in the UK, it’s only available with an eight-speed automatic ‘box. Unlike the M3 saloon, however, the M3 Touring is only available with xDrive all-wheel drive. Rest easy, though, as the Touring still has ‘4WD Sport’ and two-wheel drive settings you can apply for maximum slidey slidey.
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Speaking of slidey slidey, the M3 Touring still comes with BMW’s M Drive Professional suite of technology. So, as well as pre-programmable red buttons on the steering wheel for setting your own parameters with the car’s various safety and performance tech, it will also rate your slides and clock your laps with M Drift Analyser and M Laptimer respectively.
Any estate-ish bits to it?
Well, other than how it looks, there are a few Touring-specific details. The M3 Touring is 85mm longer and 76mm wider than a 3-series Touring and features 19 front/20 rear mixed-size alloy wheels.
The rear seats can split fold 40:20:40 (who’d have thought we’d be talking practicality when regarding an M3?!) and the boot space is rated at 500 litres with the seats up, or 1510 with the seats down. If you can’t imagine that, the M3 Touring’s project head Robert Pilsl, says that’s about as much as ‘A few crates of drinks, a grille and other party utensils. Sports stuff, equipment like a mountain bike, surf board, skis. Kids, including a pram and about 30 balloons. If necessary even a washing machine.’
Like other Touring models from BMW, the M3 Touring still features a handy separate opening for the rear window. You can also spec switches that automatically fold the rear seats down, too, as well as anti-slip rails that rise up from the boot floor to stop stuff rolling around – as long as you spec the comfort pack.
The introduction of the M3 Touring shows that BMW’s also taken the opportunity to introduce other updates, including the deployment of the brand’s curved display system that first debuted in the iX electric SUV.
I’m sold – when and how much?
BMW says you can order one in the UK, with prices starting at £80,550.