The All New M3 Touring – The First 3 Series Estate With an M Badge
BMW has finally given us a 3 series touring with an M badge, finally rivalling it’s German competitors with the likes of the C63 estate and RS4. This family sized, super car rivalling monster is the perfect addition to a petrolhead’s garage to provide speed, luxury and practicality.
Initial Overview of The M3 Touring
The M3 Touring was first unveiled at Goodwood Festival of Speed 2022, alongside the M4 CSL, part of BMW’s 50th anniversary of ‘M’. The G81 M3 Touring comes equipped with the S58 twin turbo 3.0 straight-six engine, tuned to 510hp and 620nm of torque- pushing the car to 62mph in 3.7 seconds from a standstill. Although, real life testing of the M340i saw BMW were definitely conservative with their numbers, so expect the M3 Touring to do mid to low 3 seconds in the sprint. Top speed is electronically limited to 155mph, with an option to raise this to 174mph with the additional M Driver’s Package.
Along with an uprated engine, BMW have tweaked the suspension, with xDrive now being available on the M3 Competition Touring. Accompanied by a rear-wheel drive only mode for added fun, the stiffer suspension should see more stability in cornering and launching. Forged wheels come in either Frozen Gold or Jet Black with two options of a staggered tyre setup, either 19- and 20-inch or 20- and 21-inch sizes.
What’s New For BMW’s Interiors?
The interior features BMW’s new curved screens, a 12.3 and a 14.9 inch infotainment system. Sporty carbon bucket seats are also an option for the Touring, perfect for keeping your body supported while driving spiritedly.
The steering wheel and shift paddles can now come in carbon fibre, shaving weight and adding to the aesthetics of an ‘M’ car. The M3 Touring’s boot also offers 500 litres of space in the boot, increasing to 1500 if you fold all the seats down. Not too bad for the AWD family rocketship! The M3 Touring also keeps the standard car’s novel tailgate glass, which can be opened independently.
As Always, M Performance Pack Extras
Along with the mechanical upgrades, BMW will offer the M3 Touring with their ‘M Performance Pack’, allowing the customer to equip their car with a plethora of visual upgrades. These range from canards, flicks, mirror caps, rear spoiler, antenna cover and the fuel cap all available in carbon fibre.
It will be among the final combustion vehicles to the full-bore M car line-up, alongside the upcoming BMW M2 Coupé (which uses a tweaked version of the same powertrain) revealed later this year. BMW’s first PHEV, the BMW XM super-SUV, also arrives later this year, and the next-generation BMW M5 is said to use that car’s hybridised twin-turbocharged 4.4-litre V8.
The M3 Touring starts from £83,470, with orders starting from mid September and production starting in November. To get a quote for BMW finance, check out our BMW finance page.
Image credit: https://www.press.bmwgroup.com/global/article/detail/T0399336EN/the-first-ever-bmw-m3-touring?language=en
