The most exciting and practical 3 Series of the bunch is the M3 Touring, a twin-turbo land missile that comes with M xDrive all-wheel drive in combination with ZF's well-known 8HP automatic tranny. Alpina, which is wholly owned by Munich-based BMW since March 2022, offers an M3 Touring alternative in the form of the B3 Touring.
Rather than kicking off with the M3 Touring, the B3 Touring is based on the M340i xDrive. Out goes the single-turbo B58 engine in favor of the M-specific S58, but as expected of Alpina, the twin-turbo engine is tuned for torque rather than power.
In this application, we're dealing with 495 ps and 730 Nm of torque, meaning 488 horsepower and 538 pound-feet in old money. The M3 Touring, by comparison, is advertised at 510 ps (503 horsepower) and 650 Nm (479 pound-feet) by Munich's favorite son. Torque means absolutely nothing without proper tires and proper software calibration, be it a drag strip, a public road, or the airfield where carwow films drag racing videos.
With Mat Watson in the Alpina, the B3 couldn't do better than 11.7 seconds in the standing quarter-mile. By comparison, Sam Maher-Loughnan recorded a best of 11.3 seconds in the M3 Touring. The Bimmer always launched better, which shouldn't come as a surprise given that it's a true M car with M-specific software calibrations for the anti-lock brakes, electronic stability control, torque-converter automatic tranny, and so forth.
The Alpina B3 Touring also happens to be heavier at 1,955 kilograms (make that 4,310 pounds), while Sam's M3 Touring is rated in European specification at 1,865 kilograms (4,112 pounds). Emphasis on European specification because neither the B3 Touring nor the M3 Touring can be ordered in the United States market. Similarly, lesser versions of the 3er aren't available either.
Photo: carwow on YouTube
While on the subject of lesser versions, the other two contenders in the video below are the wagon-bodied M340i and M340d. For the gas-powered longroof, the numbers are 1,795 kilograms (3,957 pounds), 374 ps (369 horsepower), and 500 Nm (369 pound-feet) from the single-turbo B58 mill.
Not bad for a 3.0-liter six, especially one that – similarly to the S58 – produces more power and torque than BMW says it does. The diesel-fueled brother of the B58 is the B57, which sports an aluminum alloy block rather than iron. For the M340d, the figures are 340 ps and 700 Nm, thus meaning 335 horsepower and 516 pound-feet.
Heavier than the M340i, the M340d couldn't do better than 13.1 seconds in the standing quarter-mile as opposed to a hugely impressive 12.5 for the gasoline-fueled brother. The heavier M340d doesn't brake as well as the M340i either, but surprisingly enough, the M3 and Alpina are pretty much tied in carwow's 100-mph emergency braking test.
Mat and company also raced these wagons from a roll, and once again, the BMW M3 showed why M is the most powerful letter of the alphabet. It was much closer than from a standing start, though, but as Vin Diesel once said in the original F&F – and arguably the best Fast and Furious movie despite many cringe-inducing moments – winning is winning regardless of the gap to the second-placed car.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?
Google News