BMW M3 Touring revealed ahead of FOS debut

Isn’t it just everything we ever wanted? The ingredients are simple – M3 bits in a blistered Touring body, but it looks so good. The added mass of the wagon shape even dulls the, er, impact, of those nostrils. It’d look wrong without them we reckon.

On the inside is perhaps the biggest change versus the M3 saloon apart from the body style. Gone is the old cockpit, with the new BMW Curved Display and OS8 in its place, with a 12.3-inch information display paired with a 14.9-inch control display, paired behind a single driver-focused glass panel. The M3 gets specific widgets in the infotainment showing tyre pressures, temperatures and the car’s setup. There are fewer buttons, with more functionality moving into the screens. If that puts you off, fear not. There’s still a rotary click dial for some retained tactility. Also making their way over to the M3 Touring are the peculiar and extremely hardcore carbon-backed bucket seats.

As model introductions go, for enthusiasts, this is enormous. Yet the specs will come as no surprise to anyone. As with the UK-sold saloon, the M3 Touring comes exclusively in 510PS (375kW), 650Nm (478lb ft) Competition trim from its 3.0-litre twin-turbo straight-six engine. Unlike the saloon, however, the Touring will be sending that power via an eight-speed automatic transmission to all four wheels. That means the numbers are suitably impressive: 0-62mph in 3.6 seconds and, should you tick the de-limit option, a 174mph top speed.

Yes, it’s switchable to rear-drive for the full two-tyre fire experience, but for anything other than wanton hooliganism, you needn’t. The M3 Competition xDrive is by far the highest-regarded version of the current M3, delivering the control of all-wheel-drive without stifling the essential M driving experience.

To the end of the latter, the M3 Touring gets the rest of the toybox too – optimised adaptive M suspension to complement the fully variable all-wheel-drive and active M differential. Six-piston brakes at the front clamp steel discs as standard, with carbon ceramics an option. M Traction control allows ten levels of slip when the car is in rear-drive mode, while the M Mode and setup buttons offer control of individual parameters. If they better suit, there are also default Road, Sport and Track modes. M Drive Professional software is on-hand too, to critique you on your lap times and drifting alike – preferably not with the dogs in the back.

Now then, the question of price. According to BMW’s website, the M3 Competition xDrive Saloon starts from £80,970, meaning that the stated starting price of the Touring is actually lower, at £80,550, though with options most will likely be paying a lot more. That also makes it a lot more expensive than the Audi RS4, base-for-base, though the M3 brings more tech, more performance and likely, a far superior driving experience to the table. The buyers will judge. The M3 Touring will be available to order from September this year, with deliveries expected in the new year. For now, your first chance to see the new BMW M3 Touring in action will be this weekend at the 2022 Goodwood Festival of Speed.