Step aside Mercedes-AMG E63 S, for there is a new Lord of the Ring among wagons. Affalterbach’s estate has been dethroned as its lap time of 7 minutes and 45 seconds has been massively improved by the first-ever M3 Touring. BMW announced yesterday the G81 has managed to lap the Nürburgring in 7 minutes and 35.06 seconds, thus setting a new record even before the official reveal.
Today, the German luxury brand is releasing a video showing the full lap and how the M3 Touring has shaved off a whopping 10 seconds from the previous record established in late 2017. The video’s thumbnail is literally too good to be true because the real thing won’t look as aggressive as depicted in this teaser. It’s a typical design sketch, complete with oversized wheels, slimmer mirrors, no door handles, and shortened overhangs.
To put that 7:35 lap time into perspective, it’s quite an achievement considering the more powerful and substantially lighter M4 CSL did it in 7:20. As previously reported, BMW will sell the M3 Touring only in the Competition guise with an automatic transmission and xDrive. From what we’ve heard, there aren’t any plans for a RWD configuration or a manual gearbox.
Debuting next week at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the production-ready M3 wagon will have the iDrive 8 of the 3 Series LCI and 2023 M3 Sedan. However, it’s not going to feature the revised headlights introduced with the facelifted 3er. Arriving with the mid-cycle refresh of the 3 Series, it means the M3 Touring will have a relatively short life cycle, so get one while you still can.
Sadly, BMW will not sell the long-roof M3 in the United States where the 3 Series Sports Wagon was phased out several years ago after the previous-generation model was retired. Mercedes and Audi aren’t offering their hot wagons either, but the two rivals do have the bigger E63 Estate and RS6 Avant on sale in North America.
Source: BMW M / YouTube
