BMW M3 Touring: If you’re a fan of super wagons, or even wagons for that matter, there’s no way this is an alien term to you. BMW has stayed away from the performance wagon segment for a very, very long time, but has finally decided to snatch its share of the pie with the 2023 M3 Touring. The M3 Touring’s history spans over two decades, but it is only now that the production-spec wagon has been revealed.
BMW has revealed the 2023 M3 Touring at the 2022 Goodwood Festival of Speed, and here’s everything you need to know about it – the ideation, inception, conception, cancellation, execution, and finally, the production. Quite a revelation, right? (Okay, I’ll stop with the wordplay now).
Kidney Grille Has Been Sculpted On Its Face
Whether you like it or not, BMW has plonked a kidney grille on the M3 Touring. History books a century later will talk about how the first-ever production M3 wagon came with this huge grille on its face. But, that’s for coming generations to gossip about. But, honestly, I’m not disgusted by it. Look past the grille and you’ll realize that the M3 Touring is quite a looker. It comes with a lot of signature M characteristics, including the functional cool air routing and aerodynamic balance.
As for the aesthetics, BMW’s latest performance model comes with sculpted wheel arches, extended side skirts, M gills in the side front fenders, and the tailpipes on the rear apron. Irrespective of the exterior color you pick, the M3 Touring will come with the roof finished in high-gloss black as standard. Even the roof rails and gurney flat are finished in the same shade. You’ll need to pay extra monies to get the roof in the same color as the rest of the body. If you need something more special, you can opt for the M carbon exterior package. As for its shoes, the 2023 M3 Touring rides on 19-inch wheels shod in 275/35 section tires at the front and 20-inch wheels wrapped in 285/30 section tires at the rear. M Compound braking system comes as standard on the wagon, but you can opt for the optional carbon-ceramic brakes as well.
The BMW M3 Touring measures 188.7 inches in length, 75 inches in width, and 56.5 inches in height. The wheelbase is 112.5 inches long. The ground clearance at 4.8 inches obviously isn’t the best, but this isn’t a Subaru Outback (8.7 inches ground clearance) kind of a wagon that you can take off the roads. As for the cargo capacity, there’s 17.7 cubic feet of space available behind the seats. But, flip the second row and you’ll have 53.3 cubic feet of cargo space available at your disposal.
The Cabin Is A Sweet Place To Be In
The M3 Touring doesn’t feel lackluster inside the cabin either. It will be offered with a curved display as standard. It comprises of a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and a 14.9-inch touchscreen screen system, all conjoined in a single glass surface that’s slightly tilted towards the driver. The infotainment is powered by the iDrive 8 system and supports Apple CarPlay and Android Auto integration.
Coming to the seating, BMW has offered M Sport seats with Merino leather trim as standard on the wagon. They are heated, electrically adjustable, and feature memory function. The rear row comprises of three full-size seats with 40:20:40 split functionality. Carbon bucket seats are also available as an option. Opt for them and you’ll save 21.1 pounds over the standard seats.
The BMW M3 Touring Makes Over 500 Horses
BMW had confirmed well in advance that the wagon will feature the 3.0-liter, twin-turbo six-cylinder S58 engine that also powers the other M models. Now that it is launched, we have the exact numbers. The mill offered here is in the state of tune as the M3 and M4 Competition. It puts out 510 horses at 6,250 rpm and 479 pound-feet of torque between 2,750- and 5,500 rpm.
The engine is mated to an eight-speed automatic gearbox. It comes with ‘Drivelogic’ that offers three gearshift programs and can be operated via the paddle shifters. The wagon comes with BMW’s xDrive all-wheel-drive system as standard, but the good thing is you can switch to the 2WD mode and channel all the oomph to the rear wheels only. It is paired with the Active M differential at the rear.
It was expected that the wagon could have the M3 CSL’s state of tune. Even the M3 CSL’s figures are still a mystery, but it is expected to make 525 horses; a little less than M4 CSL’s 543 ponies. Although that didn’t happen, the 510 horses still puts it above its rivals. The Audi RS4 Avant makes 444 horses and 443 pound-feet of torque, whereas the Mercedes-AMG C63 Estate pumps out 503 horsepower and 516 pound-feet oomph.
Not too long ago, BMW said that the M3 Touring will drive just like the M3 sedan even when packed with passengers and luggage. Klaus Uber, the man in charge of driving dynamics for all M cars, said, "We have left no stone unturned on this car. That’s the adaptive damping, steering, DSC, ABC, etc., in order to achieve the goal, we set for the M3 Touring from the very outset of the project – to make it drive the same as the M3 ." And, that is true. It also comes with Adaptive M suspension with electronically controlled shock absorbers and M Servotronic steering with a variable ratio as standard.
The Performance Specs Are Better Suited To A Supercar
Courtesy of all this, the supposedly ‘family hauler’ sprints to 62 mph in just 3.6 seconds from it breaks loose. Keep the throttle depressed and you’ll touch 124 mph in merely 12.9 seconds. The top speed is limited to 155 mph by default, but you can unlock a little more performance by opting for the M Driver’s package that lets you go up to 174 mph.
The BMW M3 Touring Is Officially The Fastest Wagon At The Nürburgring!
There was no stopping this wagon since the start of 2022. We spotted it a lot more often, once even up close and personal, and this kept going on right till it was launch in June 2022. But, even before the launch, the automaker took it to the ‘Ring and it tested it successfully. And, by successfully, I mean it set a new wagon lap record at the Nürburgring! The super station wagon lapped the ‘Ring in 7:35.060, thus making it the fastest wagon ever to grace the Green Hell. Pretty insane, right?
Unfortunately, It’s Not Coming To The U.S.
We’re glad that the BMW M3 Touring has finally happened, but folks in the Stateside will have to cross the pond to get a taste of it. The automaker won’t be bringing the M3 Touring to the U.S.}} Believe it or not, a petition was filed to make the hot shots sitting in Munich change their mind. However, given the sparse demand for wagons here, we highly doubt that BMW will ever take the plunge. But, for all you know, BMW could pull a Ford and finally cave into the needs of the enthusiasts and bring it here. But, don’t expect that to happen anytime soon.
BMW will start taking orders for the M3 Touring in September 2022 and start the production in November 2022. It will be produced alongside the M3 sedan at the company’s Munich plant. There’s no word on the pricing yet, but we should hear about it soon.
Time Capsule: How Did The Journey Begin?
The E46 M3 Touring Concept
The M3 Touring Concept was developed back in 2000, but was unveiled as a teenager in 2016. It was the first M3 wagon, but not the first M wagon. The credit for that goes to the E34 M5 Touring which was launched way back in 1992. The E46 M3 Touring Concept was powered by a 3.2-liter, six-cylinder S54 engine. It made 343 horses and 269 pound-feet of torque, making it the second most powerful six-pot naturally aspirated engine at the time. The M3 coupe of the yore with the same power plant could sprint to 62 mph from a standstill in 5.2 seconds.
There were some distinct exterior elements, too, like the laterals gills behind the front doors, 19-inch M Styling wheels, ventilated hood with Powerdome, larger front air inlets, and a four-pipe exhaust system amongst other things. It even featured an exclusive paint – Chrome Shadow metallic. Fun fact: BMW painted the vehicle in high-gloss black and then bright silver to achieve this finish. On the inside, the seats featured Alcantara and a unique material called F1 which had a metallic touch to it.
Why Didn’t BMW Pull The Trigger?
It came to everyone’s surprise when BMW decided not to make a production version of the wagon. To a layman, it is just a wagon version of an existing car; however, it was a lot more complicated. In a documentary series that the automaker has aired this year, the officials noted that it never came to be because of production challenges. Even the littlest of things like the lateral gills on the sides of the E46 M3 couldn’t be replicated onto the wagon’s body. The Touring featured shorter side panels when compared to the M3, so the automaker would have to cut the side panels and make a new assembly, especially for the M3 Touring.
There were a lot of other challenges, too, that BMW faced at the time. To accommodate the wagon doors with the M3’s wide axle, they’d have to stretch out the wheel housing. Then to design the flared wheel arches, the team also had to face the challenge of matching the rear bumper casing with the wheel arch. Such fixes would lead to more changes, which finally meant tweaking the chassis construction. At that time, BMW thought it would be better to put the M3 Touring on the back burner and focus on other important projects.
It Finally Came Out In The Open
Almost two decades later, BMW decided to get back to the drawing board and complete this incomplete project that had immense potential. The company remained quiet about it for the longest time, but the word spread when camouflaged prototypes started testing out in the wild. The prototype production is believed to have begun in 2019, and we spotted it for the first time in the modern avatar in 2020. This turned out to be another promising but disappointing exercise. The wagon disappeared into oblivion yet again, only to resurface a year later in October 2021. We didn’t keep our hopes up this time, but BMW decided to make the return of this anticipated wagon official!
BMW Makes The Return Official
BMW decided to kick start 2022 with a bang as it officially announced that the M3 Touring is finally happening! The announcement came through a teaser on the automaker’s Instagram page that showcased an aerial view of a camouflaged BMW M3 Touring standing in the snow. This teaser was a subtle way of showing that the family hauler can be fun in the snow as well. The M3 Touring was seen drifting around in the snow, directed by a helicopter, to create ‘2022’; indicating that the super wagon will debut in 2022.
BMW Drops The Cover In A Documentary
Post the announcement, BMW came up with a series of videos that show where the BMW M3 Touring started and how the production came to be. The videos have been shot with the folks who have worked closely with the superwagon in the past as well as the present. While the video gave us good insight into the M3 Touring, the biggest talking point about it was its reveal. Well, not the whole thing, but BMW lifted the tarp and showed us the M3 Touring’s rear fascia without any skin or camouflage.
As expected, the super wagon’s derriere was drool-worthy. It was finished in Frozen Dark Silver shade, which is BMW’s term for matte silver. This seems to be an ode to the E46 M3 Touring Concept’s exterior color. The wagon carried over the M3’s taillights and features an aggressive diffuser at the bottom. It even had the vertical slotted reflectors on either side, just like the M3 coupe, and a four-tailpipe exhaust setup. There was a roof-edge spoiler as well and the folks at the company noted that it was created using 3D-printing technique.
It’s Finally Here
And, it's finally here. BMW decided to launch the wagon on 21st June 2022 and reveal it at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. As stated earlier, BMW will start taking orders for it from September 2022. It will enter production at the end of 2022, which means deliveries could begin sometime in the first half of 2023. The prices are not yet revealed, but we could hear more about it in the coming months. Well, that's the end of the 22-year wait for BMW's first-ever M3-based wagon.