The new BMW M3 Touring will not offer a manual gearbox

As you surely already know, the followers of the most powerful letter in the world, M, have reason to celebrate, because recently the Bavarian brand and its sports division have confirmed that they are working on a BMW M3 Touring. This model, requested and begged for by many drivers, is going to become a reality very soon, and it is the first time in the history of BMW Motorsport that it will develop a sports touring car for production.

You may be thinking we got it wrong, but no. The BMW M3 E46 Touring that BMW launched never made it to the production line and remained a concept. Though much desired, that is. Now, for the first time in the history of the M3, BMW will offer a family estate version of the performance model under the name “Touring”.

The BMW M3 Touring could reach the market at the end of 2022. Although BMW has yet to confirm the specifications, BMWBlog, citing undisclosed sources, has reported that it will not offer a manual gearbox. Instead, the report says, it will be available exclusively with the 8-speed automatic transmission and the xDrive all-wheel-drive system developed by the brand’s high-performance division.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuTtDaDIydQ

BMW M3 Touring, what else do we know about it?

That is not the kind of news traditional enthusiasts want to hear, but to be honest, this configuration is no surprise, considering there is little demand for rear-wheel-drive estates with a manual gear lever. It is therefore very likely that the first BMW M3 Touring will launch exclusively with the Competition specification, which includes a tuned version of the 3.0-litre twin-turbo six-cylinder engine producing 510 CV and 650 Nm of maximum combined torque, paired with a standard 8-speed automatic gearbox and four-wheel drive.

This same setup allows the BMW M3 Competition and the BMW M4 Coupé Competition to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in just 3.8 seconds. However, due to the additional weight, the estate version could be slightly slower, perhaps adding a tenth or two to the acceleration time. Top speed, on the other hand, should be identical, at 250 km/h or 290 km/h with the optional M Driver’s Package.

The new M3 will sit on BMW’s CLAR platform, which means it should be lighter and more agile than the F80 generation model. “We are aware that there is a large fan base for M cars around the world, and we will do everything possible to excite them and everything we can not to disappoint them,” said Carsten Piers, head of BMW M division, in an interview. It is important to highlight that this new model will launch the sixth generation of this legendary model. It will be called G80 and will bring some quite significant changes. The BMW M3 G80 promises to be the most complete BMW M3 in history, which means that once the driver takes the wheel, they will probably forget any possible issue they might have with their driving style.