BMW M3 Touring – estate car to racing car in one move!

Fast estate cars are a bit of a niche, but one with a passionate following. Passionate enough that BMW finally gave in to pressure to build a Touring version of its legendary M3, with spectacular results. That same pressure then convincing it to make a racing car out of the Touring, after teasing the idea as an April Fool prank last year. A little over 12 months later that very car became a reality, and spent this weekend battling it out with Porsches, Lamborghinis, Aston Martins, Ferraris and Mercedes – one of the latter driven by no less than Max Verstappen.

While it started out as a joke it turns out the M3 Touring 24H is a rather serious – and potent – racing car, its 5th place in this weekend’s Nürburgring 24 Hour race seeing it in the thick of the action even if it was officially only racing in the special ‘experimental class’, and not in direct competition with the cars around it. Where it mattered out on the track, though, the M3 Touring 24H was right up there, eventually coming in ahead of the highest-placed Porsche 911 in the event. Yes, Porsche beaten by an estate car. On a track it considers its own, and a race it has won many times over the years. While he’d been at the front of the race for a good chunk even Verstappen couldn’t beat the M3 Touring, his Mercedes-AMG GT knocked out with a mechanical failure after leading through the night.

This isn’t the first time estate cars have proven themselves in racing, Volvo famously pulling the same trick with the boxy 850 in the British Touring Car Championship back in the day. But that the success of the fan-inspired M3 Touring 24H turned out to be the bigger story of the race than Max Verstappen’s attempt to win it at his first attempt is a pleasing vindication of the N24’s passionate petrolhead vibe.

As luck would have it, we also spent the weekend in an M3 Touring, though ours had a bike on the roof rather than the massive spoiler of the race car. If nothing else, though, it goes to prove the versatility of a car that’s as happy doing weekend lifestyle stuff as it is beating supercars at their own game in one of the world’s toughest motorsport events!