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• BMW announced it would introduce its first-ever M3 Touring in 2022.
• The carmaker will launch its new M4 Coupe and M3 Sedan in September.
• The Touring will join the portfolio along with the M4 Cabriolet.
The car world went into overdrive earlier in August when BMW announced it has begun testing its first-ever M3 Touring.
The Munich-based company will premiere it latest M4 Coupe and M3 Sedan in September, and said the M3 Touring is likely to only be released in 2022.
A teaser sketch of the new car was posted on the brand's Instagram page and shared further details. Like the firm's other M models the intensive testing and tuning process for the M3 Touring will take place on the Nordschleife of the Nürburgring.
Power of course will be derived from six-cylinder M TwinPower turbo engine. In the M3 and M4, the 3.0-litre engine in the standard models will sport 353kW with a 6-speed manual gearbox, while the Competition model is replete with 375kW and 650Nm of torque and uses an 8-speed M Steptronic transmission.
The Touring version adds the practicality of five doors and a highly variable luggage compartment with driving. BMW says we can expect M-specific interplay of racing-oriented performance and everyday suitability to the extreme.
The M badge has adorned other Touring models in the past, but only for the M3's bigger brother, the M5. There are only two generations of M5 Touring, BMW built them in its second generation in 1992 and in its fourth in 2007.
The E34 and E61 have become collectors items and the E34 is particularly highly sought after. There is only one know E34 in South Africa and only 891 were made.
We start off with the outrageous E61 BMW M5 Touring; a 5.0-litre V10 engine with 375kW powers it. The S85 engine drew from the brand's link to the Williams Formula 1 team.
It is the carmaker's only first and only production V10 engine, it revved to stratospheric levels, 8250 r/min to be exact.
The E34 is only the second-ever M5 and power came from a 3.8-litre straight six-cylinder engine with 250kW and 400Nm.
In 2000, BMW built an M3 Touring prototype based on the E46 model. The in-house mule sourced its power from the same 3.2-litre straight six-cylinder engine producing 252kW and 365Nm.
20 years later, BMW would make the M3 Touring a reality. And we can't wait.
Which one of these M wagons below was your favourite, and do you think estate or station wagons should be brought back to SA? Please email us your thoughts here?
