√2023 BMW M3 Touring posts Nurburgring wagon lap record

BMW’s first production M3 wagon is the quickest wagon to lap Germany’s Nurburgring circuit, running at least 10 seconds faster than a Mercedes-AMG E63 S.

The upcoming 2023 BMW M3 Touring has set a new lap record for wagons around Germany’s Nurburgring Nordschleife race circuit, ahead of its reveal next week.

At seven minutes and 35.060 seconds, the lap time posted by BMW’s new M3 Touring around the 20.832km circuit falls in the vicinity of a host of other performance cars, from the electric Tesla Model S Plaid (7:35.579) to the latest Audi RS3 hot hatch (7:40.748).

The M3 Touring’s time is the first lap record for wagons set around the 20.832km layout of the circuit, as used for official timing since 2019.

German magazine Sport Auto posted a 7:45.19 lap time in a Mercedes-AMG E63 S wagon in 2018, but this was around the shorter 20.6km layout of the circuit, which excludes a section of the final straight (meaning its ‘real’ 20.832km lap time was closer to 7:50).

The M3 Touring is not the fastest mid-size car BMW makes – that honour going to the stripped-out, two-seat M4 CSL coupe and its 7:20.2 time (20.832km layout) – but is on par with a standard M4 Competition coupe, which recorded a time of 7:30.79 around the 20.6km track layout.

Set for reveal next week, the BMW M3 Touring is the company’s first-ever production M3 wagon, two decades after a one-off E46 M3 Touring was built, but never given the green light.

It’s all but confirmed to be offered exclusively in Competition xDrive trim, with a 375kW/650Nm 3.0-litre twin-turbo inline-six engine, eight-speed automatic transmission, and all-wheel drive.

The Nurburgring video confirms the car will benefit from BMW’s latest iDrive 8 infotainment technology, with a pair of high-resolution screens integrated into one curved panel across the dashboard.

The 2023 BMW M3 Touring is due for reveal at 7pm AEST on Thursday 23 June. Stay tuned to Drive for the full unveiling.

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