BMW has never actually made an M3 Touring. It’s been reported that the top brass at BMW is considering such a car for the upcoming G80-generation, but nothing has been green-lit as of yet. So until then, if you want an M3 wagon, you’re just going to have to make one. As is the case with this S54-swapped E46 BMW 3 Series Touring that’s currently up for sale.
For those of you that aren’t up on BMW’s engine nomenclature, the S54 engine is the 3.2 liter naturally-aspirated I6 that powered the E46 BMW M3 back in the day. It made 333 hp and was a pretty astonishing engine, considering it made more than 100 hp/per liter without forced induction back in the year 2000. So it’s always been a common engine for enthusiasts to swap into other cars. In this case, an owner put one in an E46 BMW 325iX Touring, sort of creating an M3 wagon.
This S54-swapped E46 3 Series Touring is probably one of the cleaner M3 Touring conversions we’ve ever seen. The owner even went through the trouble of fitting fender flares to make it look like an E46 M3, even if you can see the rivets holding them on, which isn’t a great look. Still, that allows for the M3’s wider wheel track and fatter tires. It does look a bit weird, though, as they’re just sort of bolted onto a wagon body style that was never supposed to have them.
On the inside, it’s a pretty standard E46 3 Series, just with some M3 gauges and an M shift lever. Still, it’s a good looking interior and seems to be in reasonable condition. Plus, it’s cool to have that sort of power and performance in a car with a big wagon trunk.
This S54-swapped 3 Series Touring is currently for sale, though the owner is asking a whopping $26,500. That’s a lot, even for a converted M3. Would you pay that much for it or would you just buy an actual E46 BMW M3 for that money?
[Source: Jalopnik]
