BMW M3 Touring, which became the record holder before the official premiere

They are tired of sedans, they are not satisfied with coupes: the public insistently demanded station wagons. Concern "BMW" went to meet the wishes and created a "barn". No, not the first, to be fair.


One station wagon "M-three" flashed in the 2000s. But he remained a concept, so we will not talk about him. The honor of the first serial super-universal belongs to him - the BMW M3 Competition Touring with M xDrive.

The history of the birth of the BMW M3 Touring

Boomer, Beha, Bimmer are the German company Bavarian Motor Works. BMW for Russians is a symbol of prosperity, prosperity, respectability. It is unpleasant for fans of the brand to realize that the manufacturer occupies some 59th, 64th places in the lists of the world's largest public cars in 2022. For many of us, BMW is expensive, rich, inaccessible.


Fans are closely following the development and achievements of the concern, which has been leading the history since 1913. In 1972, at the Bavarian factories (by the way, there are two dozen of them on different continents), a division of BMW M GmbH was formed for the production of non-standard equipment - motorcycles and cars. Here, under the order of a capricious consumer, constructive and design changes are made to basic cars: customization of models deprives numerous tuning studios of work.

The debut of the super-universal BMW M3 Touring was timed to coincide with the division's 1993th anniversary. The show was also matched to another significant event - the Goodwood Festival of Speed. The annual event has been held since 100 at Lord March's estate in England. The famous hill is located in the countryside of the lord, the high-speed climb to which historical racing cars gathers more than 92,7 thousand spectators. The height difference of the hill is 4,9 m, and the slopes are XNUMX%.

At the end of June 2022, the German BMW M3 Touring was the centerpiece of the Goodwood Festival. He majestically "climbed" the hill: this is how the official premiere of the first superuniversal in the sports line with a cargo-passenger body took place. The car was expected by the public, because it has already declared itself as a winner on the most difficult ring track in the world - the Nordschleife of the Nürburgring.


In camouflage with an intricate pattern, the Emka gracefully completed the 20,8-kilometer lap in 7:35.060. Then test driver Jörg Weidinger drove the car just as beautifully over the 20,6-kilometer section in 7:30.300. The five-year Mercedes-AMG record (7:45.19) was broken. With such “trump cards”, the BMW M3 Touring model entered the world. Let's take a closer look at it.

Overview of the appearance of the station wagon BMW M3 Touring

The first glance thrown at a 5-door car leaves no doubt - in front of you is a BMW "cub": a muscular posture, a daring look of the head lights. And those "nostrils"! The gigantic vertical grille, which caused controversy over size, was seen by viewers on 4-Series coupes and convertibles. And the front optical devices, connoisseurs noticed, were “removed” from the 3-Series. Well, these details only made the model recognizable.


Further inspection reveals large sills and expressive flared wheel arches. The latter accommodate tires with alloy wheels measuring 19 inches in front and 20 inches in the rear. And the massive stern demonstrates a developed diffuser, twin exhaust pipes of a bi-turbo engine and a new shape of a smooth spoiler.


The double-leaf electric tailgate hides 500 liters of usable volume. The glass can be opened separately to report medium-sized luggage to the luggage compartment. With the rear seats folded in a ratio of 40:20:40, the volume of the cargo section increases to 1510 liters.


The overall dimensions of the BMW M3 Touring wagon are as follows:

✅ Length - 4 794 mm
✅ Width - 1 mm
✅ Height - 1436 mm
✅ Ground clearance - 122 mm

The curb weight of the car is 85 kg more than the previous standard M-3 sedan and is 1865 kg. The roof and rails in the base are painted in black gloss. The color of these elements, matching the body, is available as an option for customers, as well as carbon-ceramic brakes. The roof rails can carry 75 kg of cargo; the developers did not provide for towing trailers.

Study of the salon "M-universal"

Ergonomics and accuracy have always been the hallmark of the Germans. They remained true to themselves when designing the interior of the "charged" BMW M3 Touring. The salon meets with spaciousness, an abundance of light, good-quality finishing materials. Comfortable anatomical seats with adjustment for different positions come as standard, and for a surcharge you can get lightweight bucket seats for the driver and front passenger.


The newest dual-screen curved iDrive 8 scoreboard under a single glass and without a visor has already been tested on iX and i4 electric cars, as well as some “fuel” options. But for a station wagon, such a scoreboard is new. The 12,3-inch display is adapted for a virtual “tidy”, 14,9-inch for an entertainment complex. Multimedia is controlled by the BMW 8 operating system specially developed for it.

Technical part of the BMW M3 Touring

The wheels of the new station wagon are powered by a twin-turbo engine with direct injection. S58 engine specifications:

✅ Volume - 3,0 l
✅ Power - 510 liters. With.
✅ Torque - 650 Nm at 2 rpm
✅ Type of power plant - 6-cylinder in-line with 4 valves per cylinder
✅ Recommended fuel - AI-95

For the coming decades, the twin-turbocharged S58 engine will be the face of the BMW M GmbH division, the engineering department assures. An injection pressure of 350 bar provides a fine spray of fuel in the cylinders, which reduces harmful emissions to the atmosphere to a minimum: CO2 - 239 g / km.


Immediately after the engine, it is natural to ask about the transmission. In close conjunction with the internal combustion engine, an 8-speed automatic transmission works. The manufacturer installed an active M-differential on the rear axle of the “barn”. Drive full M xDrive, but still pluggable.

The owner can choose one of the settings: basic four-wheel drive or 4WD Sport with an emphasis on the rear axle. You can also turn off the DSC stabilization system and have plenty of mischief in the rear-wheel drive. By default, the drift mode is set, which turns off power to the front wheels and traction control.

The suspension is adaptive with noticeably stiffer damper springs in the rear. With this, the suspension system was adjusted to a body reinforced in the area of ​​​​the bottom. Brake system "three rubles" in a circle perforated ventilated with 6-piston calipers.


Speed ​​indicators: maximum speed - 250 km / h, but by paying extra for the M Driver's Package, you can move the cutoff to 280 km / h. The speed is electronically controlled. Accelerating dynamics are not striking, but not weak - the car accelerates to the cherished "hundred" in 3,6 seconds, as the manufacturer claims. Drivers who managed to sit behind the wheel of the M-Saray recorded 3,62 seconds. The station wagon reaches two hundred kilometers in 12,9 seconds.

The car with the full name BMW M3 Competition Touring with M xDrive is not a concept, but a series production model. Orders for the car fell immediately after the premiere, so the manufacturer did not hide the price - within 100 thousand euros. Among the Russians there are buyers with such a wallet, and we hope to soon see a “charged” station wagon as a participant in the movement on our routes.