As opposed to the G80 M3 sedan, the G81 M3 station wagon doesn't come with a CFRP roof. Be that as it may, the aftermarket couldn't resist filling the void caused by the bean counters in Munich.
Enter Alpha-N Composites, a division of German company Alpha-N GmbH. Compatible with both the G81 M3 Touring and the G21 3 Series Touring, the CFRP roof panel developed by Alpha-N GmbH went official mere days ago. UK-based tuning firm R44 Performance ordered one for their Bimmer, but – as expected – installing said panel requires the original roof to be chopped off with utmost care.
Pictured with British plates in the United States of America, the R44 Performance BMW M3 Touring in the video below had the difficult transplant performed by Illinois-based IND Distribution, a small outfit which specializes in all things BMW.
Replacing the roof obviously proved a tremendous ordeal, with IND Distribution having to remove pretty much every piece of interior trim from the seatbelt cover panels up. Headliner included, of course! Because it's CFRP on metal, the new roof had to be fixed into place with epoxy.
Unfortunately for potential customers, Alpha-N has yet to reveal what kind of weight savings can be expected from the carbon roof. Pricing remains a mystery at press time as well, although it's obvious that it commands a high price. Speaking of which, the sporty wagon is expensive in its own right.
Not available to configure stateside, the M3 Touring retails at €101,300 in Germany. The sedan equivalent, namely the M3 Competition xDrive, is €100,300 at the moment of reporting. Said prices convert to $110,360 and $109,275 at current exchange rates. For reference, the M3 Competition xDrive for the United States market is available to configure at $84,300 for the 2024 model year.
It's a rather shocking difference, but alas, BMW asks this kind of money for the M3 in Europe due to value-added tax and Euro 6 regulations. The TL;DR version of this emission standard is that manufacturers are fined millions of euros for exceeding CO2 targets.
Euro 6 is why gasoline-powered cars for the EU and UK come with gasoline particulate filters, which take away from the aural pleasure of high-performance engines like the S58 twin-turbo I6 of the M3 and M4. This lump is also used by the M2, as well as the X3 M and X4 M utility vehicles.
Revealed with much pomp in June 2022, the M3 Touring isn't available with a manual transmission due to the M xDrive system. The closest rival to the M3 Touring is the Audi RS 4 Avant, which – unfortunately – isn't sold in the United States either.
The C 63 S E Performance T-Modell is worth a shout-out as well, albeit for being a disappointing porker. Not only does it weigh a staggering 2,145 kilograms (4,729 pounds), but it features a rear axle-mounted electric drive unit and a 2.0-liter turbo.
AMG assembles the four-pot engine by hand, but still, a four-pot C 63? Has the world really gone that mad? The answer is negative. According to BMW M big kahuna Frank van Meel, demand for the M3 Touring is off the charts. If AMG doesn't revert back to a twin-turbo V8 for the C 63 sedan and wagon, then BMW M and Audi Sport will be much obliged to welcome new customers in their showrooms.
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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