Should BMW make a BMW M3 Touring variant?
Always dreamed of a BMW M3 Touring? So have we. At least every other night. There have been prototypes, unofficial renders...even a blooming M3 pickup. But not a proper Touring.
While we continue to wait, BMW is teasing us of what might be via some M Performance parts for the recently unveiled 3-Series Touring. Nope, there isn’t an E92-generation howling V8 on the options list, but there are some assertive styling tweaks.
We’re a bit nonplussed by how carbon-y it looks, but fans of (relative) subtlety can rest assured all the additional bits can be spec’d in gloss black. So there are new skirts, a rear diffuser—which apparently functions, too—and new lightweight 18-inch wheels, which come in their own wheel bags for when you want to store them. Germany asks of a switch to winter tires by law, don’t forget, so these’ll keep your fancy M parts nice and snug as they hibernate through the cold.
More questionable are the carbon mirror caps, M puddle lights, and “the M Performance front ornamental grille Iconic Glow.” So, when you lock or unlock the car, the radiator grille glows “in a unique manner.” Eek.
M Performance has also applied a round of tweaks to the new 8-Series Gran Coupe and the updated X1, the former acquiring 20in gold alloys with—ahem—an “M Performance inscription on the rim flange.”
But really, it’s all about the M-ified Touring, isn’t it? How much more do you want the full M3 now?
NOTE: This article first appeared on TopGear.com. Minor edits have been made.
