Like all of you, we’ve been waiting with bated breath to hear what the BMW M3 Touring is like to drive from our European friends and colleagues. Being from North America, we won’t get the M3 Touring, so we shamefully have to live vicariously through a number of Brits to find out what it’s like to drive, after decades of wanting such a thing to exist. The latest Brit to give us such a sneak peak is Joe Achilles, who recently drove the car on both road and track to find out what it’s like.
In his latest video, Achilles puts the M3 Touring to the test in a variety of different scenarios and even tests it from 0-60 mph. It must be said that Achilles has an M3 Touring on order but the car in the video isn’t his, it’s a press loaner from BMW UK. He’ll be taking delivery of his own car soon enough.
Is it hard for the M3 Touring to surprise Achilles, who’s had two G80 M3 Competitions already? Probably. However, the long-roof M3 actually manages to impress in a variety of different ways. For starters, it’s still brutally, violently fast. Its 3.0-liter twin-turbo I6 is a carryover from the sedan, so it makes 503 horsepower and 479 lb-ft of torque. It’s also paired with an eight-speed automatic and xDrive all-wheel drive. So, powertrain-wise, it’s no different from an M3 Competition xDrive sedan. However, it is 85 kg (187 lbs) heavier than the sedan and, because it loses its carbon fiber roof for a metal roof, some of that weight is up high, raising its center of gravity slightly.
Despite its weight gain and power-to-weight ratio loss, the M3 Touring still rips off a 0-60 mph time in 3.19 seconds, which is just absurd. That’s bonkers speed in a five-door family wagon and yet the M3 Touring does it with ease. Just as impressive, though, is how it handles itself on track. The added weight and higher center of gravity aren’t felt, it seems. He chucks it around Bedford race track like it’s a much smaller sports car, all while being able to carry two adults, three children, and a dog. In the words of Jeremy Clarkson—what a machine! The only issues with the M3 Touring are that it didn’t come sooner and North America won’t get it.
