It’s hard to believe that BMW waited until 2022 to come out with an M3 Touring. It sat on the sidelines for more than a decade, watching the Audi RS4 Avant and Mercedes-AMG C63 Estate fight each other. The M division finally delivered the goods with the G81 launched a couple of years ago. Arguably Bavaria’s best all-rounder, the family man’s supercar shows what’s it made of in a new onboard video.
The clip is only 54 seconds long but that’s enough to realize this isn’t your typical estate. The only M Touring until the G99 arrives later this year was pushed hard at the Lurcy-Lévis, an FIA-homologated track located in France. It crushed both the 0-62 mph (0-100 km/h) and 0-124 mph (0-200 km/h) official times.
It did the shorter sprint in 3.4 seconds, shaving off two-tenths of a second from what BMW writes in the technical specifications. In the longer run, it was clocked in at 11.7 seconds, a whopping 1.2 seconds quicker than the specs sheet. The French journalists from Motorsport Magazine needed only 20.8 seconds to cover 1 kilometer (0.6 miles).
The circuit’s straight was long enough to test the standard top speed, but we’ll remind you BMW limits the M3 Touring to 155 mph (250 km/h). With the optional M Driver’s Package, the limiter is loosened to 174 mph (280 km/h).
The G81 is in a weird timeline with a four-cylinder AMG C63, with BMW M betting on an inline-six. An even hotter M3 CS Touring is coming in 2025 with more power by taking the twin-turbo 3.0-liter from 503 hp to 543 hp. A power bump could come sooner since the facelifted super wagon is likely to have 523 hp. We’re making this assumption based on the 2025 M4 Coupe/Convertible models that have earned an extra 20 hp.
While the G81 is not available in the United States, the bigger G99 has had its US visa approved. It means BMW will have at least one M wagon available globally, something that hasn’t ever happened. The ultra-rare M5 E34 and V10-powered E61 wagons were never offered in North America.
Source: Motorsport Magazine / YouTube
