Black is one of the best colors available for the M3 Touring, but H&R has improved the breed with a set of height-adjustable springs. Listed under part number 23026-3 on the suspension company’s website, said kit was designed specifically for the G21 3 Series Touring and G81 M3 Touring.
It fits current-generation 3 Series vehicles equipped with adaptive dampers, and the height adjustable springs wouldn’t be complete without a set of badass forged wheels. H&R chose Yido Performance for their build, namely forged wheels that measure 10.5 by 20 inches up front and 11.5 by 21 inches out back. As a brief refresher, the 2023 model year BMW M3 Touring comes as standard with 9.5- by 19- and 10.5- by 20-inch alloys.
H&R currently lists the height adjustable springs at €879 per set. Yido Performance, on the other hand, wants €660 per front wheel in matte black and €835 per rear wheel in this finish. The total is 3,879 euros, as in 4,160 dollars at current exchange rates, excluding the shipping and labor costs.
It’s not a lot of money for such a tremendous difference over the stock vehicle, and it certainly isn’t a lot in comparison to the suggested retail price for the M3 Touring. Exclusively offered with M xDrive and the Competition-spec engine, the go-faster wagon costs €97,800 ($104,905).
Quite a jump from the M340i xDrive Touring the United States doesn’t get either, but then again, it’s the most exciting station wagon in the compact executive segment. Higher up the spectrum, the most obvious choices are the V8-powered Audi RS 6 Avant and Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid, the latter belting out 691 plug-in hybrid horsepower.
Even though BMW had experimented with M3 wagons, none received the stamp of approval for series production. The G81 was introduced earlier in 2022 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed as part of the M division’s 50th-anniversary celebrations. Originally known as BMW Motorsport GmbH, the performance division also masterminded the M 1000 RR superbike.
Turning our attention back to the M3 Touring, the all-wheel-drive longroof is rocking 500 liters (17.6 cubic feet) of boot space. Folding the rear seats down increases cargo capacity to 1,510 liters (53.3 cubic feet).
The station wagon is understandably on the heavy side of compact executive vehicles at 1,865 kilograms (approximately 4,112 pounds), attributable in part to the torque-converter automatic transmission supplied by ZF Friedrichshafen. The M xDrive system is also worthy of note, a clever system that boasts a driver selectable rear-wheel-drive setting.
Codenamed S58, the B58-based engine officially develops 510 ps (503 horsepower) at 6,250 revolutions per minute and 650 Nm (479 pound-feet) between 2,750 and 5,500 revolutions per minute. Except it doesn’t. Both the single-turbo B58 and twin-turbo S58 engines crank out more power than advertised, as demonstrated time and again on the dyno.
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
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