BMW M3 Touring becomes fastest wagon at the Nurburgring

The new BMW M3 Touring, the high performance wagon cousin of the M3 sedan and M4 coupe, will showcase its capabilities to a global audience on June 26 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed event in the UK.

The car, the first-ever Touring version of the M3, recently became the fastest station wagon around Germany’s famous Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit. It blitzed the 20.7km circuit with a lap time of seven minutes and 35.060 seconds, which is 10 seconds faster than the previous record-holder, the Mercedes-AMG E63 S wagon.

The BMW M3 Touring is available exclusively in Competition guise with the M xDrive all-wheel drive system. The 3.0l six-cylinder inline M TwinPower Turbo engine produces outputs of 375kW and 650Nm, for a claimed 3.6 second 0-100km/h sprint  and 280 km/h top speed.

An eight-speed M Steptronic transmission with Drivelogic offers three gearshift programs and can be operated using shift paddles on the steering wheel. As well as the basic 4WD setting, the driver can also select 4WD Sport mode with a more rear-biased tuning, while switching off DSC (Dynamic Stability Control) brings 2WD mode – pure rear-wheel drive – into play.

BMW has announced that the first M3 Touring will share the Goodwood limelight with its equally new BMW M4 CSL cousin. The latter is the top gun of the M4 range, weighing 100kg less than the M4 Competition and powered by a modified 3.0l six-cylinder, twin-turbocharged engine with 405kW and 650Nm. 

BMW will also use the Goodwood festival to celebrate BMW M’s 50th anniversary year, and who knows, the new BMW XM — the M subsidiary’s first electrified car and new BMW M2, could also make a showing.

There are currently no plans to sell the M3 Touring in SA, but 15 units of the limited-edition M4 CSL will make it to our shores.