BMW M3 Touring review – the best candidate for a one-car garage

The BMW M3 Touring is a car that enthusiasts dreamt of and demanded for generations. Surely, we all cried, it would be all the car you’d ever need, and upon first impressions it proved that was just about the case. A practical estate car with all of the performance of the excellent G80 M3 saloon is an irresistible match. Launched in July 2022 the first production cars started rolling down the line in November 2022 and in 2025 it was given a mid-life update along with the rest of the BMW 3 Series range.

Those changes were admittedly small ones, with a light performance uplift and mild design tweaks applied inside and out to bring the M3 Touring up-to-speed with the rest of the updated 3-series family. As small as they might have been though, they combined to make BMW’s first M3 Touring noticeably sharper and more engaging than it was before, solidifying its place at the top of the segment for years to come. Prices for the M3 Touring Competition XDrive - the only model sold in the UK - now start at £93,755, but if any car is worth that sum, this is it. And keep an eye out for some strong discounts on stock cars.

Engine, gearbox and performance

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• B58 straight-six good for 523bhp and 479lb ft and feels strong
• 0-62mph in 3.6sec – supercar performance in an estate
• Improved sounds but still synthesized inside

While some of the M3’s rivals now come with in excess of 600bhp, the M3 Touring’s power and torque remain relatively modest on paper. Its 3-litre twin-turbocharged S58 straight-six has been given a mild 20bhp bump in output lifting it to 523bhp, with torque capped at the same 479lb ft to keep the eight-speed ZF torque converter automatic in one piece.

Power is sent via the standard xDrive all-wheel drive system, and while a pure rear-wheel drive model is not available in the UK, the driver has a choice of three modes for flexibility – 4WD, 4WD Sport and 2WD. This flexibility does come at the cost of an 1865kg kerb weight, but as with many of its rivals in 2026, it masks it surprisingly well. And it’s still nearly 500kg lighter than Audi’s RS5 Avant.

With a 3.6sec 0-62mph time (the same as in the pre-facelift) the weight doesn’t hold the M3 back, but it only tells part of the story. In comfort and automatic mode, the M3’s low-end grunt is immediately apparent, with the transmission holding gears even under moderate acceleration to make use of the engine’s torque. A combination of this excellent transmission calibration and power delivery makes it an incredibly comfortable, usable car day-to-day and at normal road speeds. 

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A press of one of the pre-programmed dedicated M mode buttons on the steering wheel alters its character entirely when the roads get good, tightening throttle mapping and gearbox response while loosening the traction control and even upping the sound should you desire. Push on and the 2026 M3 Touring feels tighter still than the outgoing car. The shifts are crisp and land with a satisfying kick through the seat, throttle mapping is expertly calibrated and acceleration relentless despite the relatively modest on-paper stats – hit third gear and the pull seems to increase exponentially thanks to shortened ratios, pushing you back in your seat.

> BMW M3 CS Touring review – the Nürburgring’s fastest-ever estate tested

One of the most notable changes for the facelift is the change in engine sound pumped into the cabin. Previous M cars (and even some current ones including the G99 M5 Touring) have been plagued with unconvincing, overly artificial sounds, and while the overall driving experience has made up for it, they are a distraction. It seems BMW realised this, with the sounds produced inside improved dramatically, less overwhelming, more authentic and seemingly more in-tune with what you’re asking of the engine. Exterior sound is also surprisingly strong for a new car in 2026, with a clean straight-six sound projecting for quite a distance from those iconic quad tips.

Ride and handling

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• Adaptive dampers, M xDrive, active M differential
• Hides its 1865kg weight exceptionally well
• Damping well-balanced between control and compliance

It’s especially strange that the M4 CSL fell short of its target of becoming a hardcore driver’s car when this, a practical estate car, manages to have such breadth of ability, but still feels really special and properly focussed. The all-wheel drive system also seems to come without penalty, with no steering corruption, no perceptible increase in understeer and it actually enhances the sweet, rear-led balance of the chassis by increasing traction and confidence without dumbing down the natural balance.

What about all that weight? Well, the Touring disguises it admirably. This is a highly adjustable car and in Comfort mode the body control can seem a little too relaxed at times, betraying the forces at work. However, Sport mode brings positivity to the damping and real depth to the car's composure even as you throw more and more at it in terms of acceleration, braking and lateral loads at it. 

Honestly, you need to look in your rear-view mirror to remember it’s an estate car at all. This dynamic polish is a testament to the car’s fundamental rightness but also the staggering level of detail applied at this project to make the Touring behave like a real M3. For example, the body in white includes the additional bracing for the rear structure as used by the M4 cabriolet and a unique rear axle subframe is employed, all in the name of rigidity and precision.

Unlike some modern performance cars with adaptive damping, the sharpest modes have an immediate and noticeable impact on ride, bringing the chassis alive while retaining the sophistication of the less focused modes beneath it. It’s undoubtedly firm, but the click of a button is all it takes to bring damping back to ‘Comfort’ for a ride more than suitable for everyday use.

Interior and tech

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• Carbon buckets can be awkward but are hugely supportive
• Updated UI is an improvement
• BMW M’s digital dials still disappoint

Inside, the M3 Touring remains largely the same as the pre-facelift car, but there are a few small tweaks designed to bring it in-line with the rest of the range. While that wraparound curved infotainment display makes a return, it’s been updated to the latest version for even sharper graphics, tweaked UI and quicker response times to your inputs. 

We liked the previous system and this only improves it, with menu systems intuitive, a permanent climate control bar great to see, and the graphics some of the sharpest and most carefully considered in any performance car. As always, we’d love to see more physical buttons but at least this system is relatively logical instead of wilfully complex. And the instrument ‘dials’ are still horrific and not actually dials, but some kind of 80’s graphics equaliser bar that are of no use whatsoever. 

The central air vents are now of a new design with smaller nibs for changing airflow direction as per the latest X3. The steering wheel has been tweaked to include the unique geometric central spoke as the rest of the BMW range and oddly, on the test car we drove, the extended carbonfibre paddles of the pre-facelift car had been swapped for smaller cold-touch metal items. Despite having been equipped with the pricey Ultimate Package, this car is also without Active Cruise Control, which is either a strong positive or a drawback depending on your viewpoint – the fact such a high end car can be optioned without divisive tech like this is nice to see.

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As before, the optional carbonfibre bucket seats are some of the most supportive in any performance car, never mind a fast estate. But, getting in and out of them when parked in a tight space requires some athletic agility and the side bolsters wear quickly as a result of you sliding over them every time you get in and out of the car. 

Our particular car was finished in deep metallic Skyscraper grey, fitted with diamond cut wheels and with a dash of gold courtesy of the carbon ceramic-spec calipers that come as part of the Ultimate package. Despite this neutral exterior look, its seats were quite the opposite, a lairy yellow and blue combination to bring some colour to the equation – while some alternatives have limited options and colours to choose from, the M3 Touring can be had in just about any configuration you’d like. 

Overall the M3 Touring is just as deeply compelling as it ever has been and, controversial grille put to one side, deeply desirable. It’s a whole heap of money but we can’t think of anything else that marries practicality with scintillating dynamics so completely. It could be quieter and more refined. But that rather misses the point. The M3 Touring is, at its core, a BMW M3. We wouldn’t have it any other way.

Price, specs and rivals

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The BMW M3 Touring is now priced from £93,755, over £13,000 more than when it was first launched. That is an awful lot of money no matter which way you look at it, but in performance terms, you’ll struggle to do much better for the money. The fact it also happens to be a practical family estate car makes the value proposition even more appealing. Some new pre-registered cars have also been available at significant discounts, up to £16,000 in some cases, helping to soften the blow.

Rivals are few and far between but Audi is back in the game with the new RS5, which starts at £92,050. Its plug-in hybrid powertrain out guns the BMW for on paper performance but it lacks the dynamic clarity and polish of its Munich rival. 

As with the Audi the Mercedes-AMG C63 S E Performance has also dived down the plug-in hybrid route, but where the RS5 sticks with six cylinders AMG thought it a good idea to give the C63 a four-cylinder engine. Naturally that went down well with the AMG aficionados as well as expected and a new six-cylinder C53 is under development to fill the gap. If a Mercedes-AMG is your chosen rival, the the six-cylinder engined E53 models aren't far off price wise, from £94,540 in estate form.

BMW M3 Touring (G81) specs

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