If it seems like just the other day that a disguised BMW M3 Touring mule was on PH, that's because it was - see below. But this time we have our best look yet at the very first M3 wagon; and, well, who's going to turn that down? Even if the 'best look yet' line is going to be used an awful lot between now and 2022...
Spied near Munich on public roads and amongst the traffic, the M3 Touring looks... well, brilliant, no? Of course a lot of attention will be stolen by the front end, but in profile and from the back it looks spot on, the ideal blend of M car attitude and estate practicality. The swollen arches at the back mean there isn't that vast expanse of metal above the wheel that can make a fast estate look a bit anaemic, and the trademark quad of pipes fits just nicely. Even the rear spoiler and roof rails point to what we'd all guessed at for years: regardless of anything else, an M3 Touring is going to look superb. Except now with you know what.
Such is the surfeit of excitement and dearth of information around this car, even our super spy sources have nothing more to say about the M3 Touring. So feel free to speculate, postulate and admire for a little while longer, as BMW ponders its next drip-fed update to keep the car world hooked. Rest assured we'll be reporting it as soon as possible. It's only 486 days until 2022, after all...
Image credit | S.Baldauf/S.B.Medien
UPDATE, 28/08/2020:
BMW knows the world is agog with excitement about the 2022 M3 Touring. We know that you're very keen to know about it. Heck, we know that we are desperate to know more about it. All of which means that BMW can put a 15-second clip of its new car on Facebook, which really tells us nothing new at all, and the world will leap on it - the M3 wagon is just that kind of car. At the time of writing it has been viewed more than 3.7 million times, with more than 20,000 likes and approaching 4,000 comments. Even Dan Prosser's Facebook live on how to get a great quiff wasn't seen that much.
As for tangible info, the trundle away from M Town reveals this is certainly an automatic M3, as first can be heard slurring into second and then that gear into third. Perhaps of more pressing importance is the confirmation that, yes, the M4 grille will most certainly be making its way to this bodystyle. Even with a numberplate to split the surface area up, it's still one heck of a visage. On the flipside, the 3 Series Touring really seems to suit the M makeover elsewhere, with beefed up arches and quad exhausts fitting in as well as we all hoped they would. Even with the disguise, the intent is clear, though not overtly enough to draw attention from the majority of roadusers. Unless they can see the front, that is...
So what do we think? Is the mere prospect of an M3 Touring and all that comes with it enough to offset any concerns? Put simply, can the front of the car be let off because of the rest of it? Given the amount of comments already on this story, we're sure you'll have something to say. We, along with seemingly millions of others, will await the next vid with interest - even if it is just another few seconds trundling around Bavaria...
ORIGINAL STORY, 13/08/2020:
If you thought 2020 couldn’t get any more unpredictable, you ain’t seen nothing yet. BMW has confirmed the introduction of the car we thought it would absolutely never make: an estate version of its soon-to-arrive G80 M3, to be officially known as the M3 Touring. Yes, the car we thought BMW had forever decided against since its E46 Touring one-off. Confirmed. For production. By the M division. Best take a seat.
The official statement reads like this: “In Garching near Munich, home of the BMW M GmbH, work is being carried out on a further dream-come-true. For the first time in the history of the BMW M GmbH, the model range will be complemented by a BMW M3 Touring”. So, it’s not just been decided, but already so far into development that our spy snappers will now be camping outside on double shifts in search of BMW’s first C63 wagon rival.
The release does little more than pledge to maintain the ethos of the M3 in an estate body, which is all we could really ask for. It states that the “six-cylinder M TwinPower turbo engine beneath the bonnet has been set”. Indeed, we know the G80 is due with 480hp, a six-speed manual and rear-drive in entry trim, while the top Competition is due with a 510hp and 479lb ft of torque version of the S58 as well as M xDrive. Question is, will the Touring follow suit?
We’d hedge that it at least seems likely, given that the lesser powered car would provide a more attractive entry price, while the Competition’s use of all-wheel drive is obviously appropriate for a model that will be marketed as the consummate all-rounder. Fingers crossed, anyway, because a rear-drive, manual M3 Touring has hero potential that’s off the scale. And one with 510hp and all-wheel drive would make for one hell of an all-season performance car. Imagine an M3 Touring with skis or bikes on the roof...
Maybe, just maybe, the grilles of the incoming M3 will be forgiven with this new addition to the line-up. We’ll leave that up to the forums to decide. But the prospect of an estate-bodied car, sporting the blistered arches and quad exhaust tips recently spied on a development M3 saloon, certainly has us drooling. It’ll represent the fourth model for the upcoming M3/M4 line-up, with the M4 coupe and convertible also due with the aforementioned outputs and, of course, frontal intakes.
We’ll know what we’re working with when the M3 saloon is revealed next month, but in truth the M3 Touring is still about two years away from arrival, such is the development process required for the car. The extra metal alone will no doubt require bespoke chassis settings, not to mention a higher mass-carrying capacity. But that’s ok; given that it’s been 20 years since BMW teased us with the jaw-droppingly gorgeous E46 M3 Touring – which PH recalled back in April – we’re inclined to think that another 24 months will be relatively easy to deal with. Roll on 2022.
1 / 11
