2023 BMW M3 Touring G81

The BMW M3, currently in its 36th year of production and sixth iteration, has not yet been made available in Touring guise, despite being sold alongside the standard 3 Series estate since its launch.

Now, however, M division is nearing completion of the first-ever M3 Touring, which is tipped to arrive in the next few months and will be among the quickest and most potent estate cars on sale.

Test mules remain thickly camouflaged, but even several months out from the car’s unveiling, it is clear the G81 M3 Touring will be differentiated from the saloon only by its extended roof. The vertically oriented grille from the M3 and M4 is carried over – a departure from the horizontal face worn by the standard Touring – and flared arches, Competition alloys and quad-exit exhausts will help separate it from other angles.

It will use the S58 straight-six engine, but like the M3 saloon will pack 503bhp in Competition form and, despite around 80kg of extra weight, is expected to broadly match that car’s performance stats, with the potential to shade the V6-powered Audi RS4 Avant. It is expected to arrive at roughly the same time as BMW reveals a series of updates for the wider 3 Series range, lining the M3 Touring up to receive the firm’s eighth-generation iDrive infotainment platform, as pioneered by the iX and i4 EVs.

M3 Touring should pack 503bhp in UK-spec Competition guise.

An M3 Touring came close to reality when BMW built a one-off M3 version of the E46 estate. Challenges included integrating the M3’s ‘complicated’ rear axle beneath the estate’s boot, maintaining body rigidity and ensuring the rear doors flowed seamlessly into the swollen wheel arches.