BMW M3 Touring

Rent a BMW M3 Touring in Europe, and travel in absolute comfort with plenty of space in a car that also comes packed with performance. The M3 Touring is the first of its kind, being the first M3 to ever leave the factory as an estate, despite BMW's history of producing estate cars under the M division (M5 Touring as E34 and E61). It would have been easy to keep the name short and snappy, however the car is officially known as the BMW M3 Competition Touring xDrive.

BWM hasn't had a car in their lineup to compete with cars such as the Audi RS6 Avant, but everything has now changed with the new M3 Touring. The car is powered by a 3.0L six-cylinder twin-turbo straight-six engine producing 503 bhp and a maximum torque of 650 Nm - this is the same engine as in the M3 Competition Sedan. The power output makes the car reach 100 km/h from a standstill in just 3.6 seconds, with a top speed of 250 km/h (that can be increased to 280 km/h with the optional M driver's package). It might look like a family estate, but it can certainly keep up with the supercars - and fit a lot more luggage in its 500L boot.

The xDrive rear-biased all-wheel drive system which is standard in all M3 Tourings can also be switched to rear-wheel drive from the settings. With the M buttons you can tweak the driving profile to suit your personal taste, flicking between the most comfortable settings for the road to a more sporty feeling and finally of course the ideal setting for the race track. The gearbox is automatic only - the car is equipped with BMW's 8-speed M Steptronic transmission. Weight distribution is according to BMW nearly nearly 50:50 - despite its fairly heavy weight (1940 kg EU). There is a reason why they call them the ultimate driving machines...

Lookswise the BMW M3 Touring looks very similar to the standard M3 at the front with BMW's large kidney grilles, and it shares its body with the 3-series Touring so it has been tried and tested before - now only with increased power, improved handling, and of course a slightly more sporty look. The interior is like most other modern BMWs with its large touchscreens - and lots of carbon fiber details if you tick the boxes for the Carbon Package and M Carbon bucket seats - and the 500L boot space can be increased to up to 1510L by folding the rear seats.

Supercars have their time and place on our road trip adventures, but sometimes what you really want is just a comfortable car for long journeys - a car that will accommodate all of your travel luggage, and still feel like a proper driving machine once you switch out of Comfort mode and put that performance to test in Sport on thrilling driving roads. Also because the BMW M3 Touring is not sold in the United States our American friends might not want to miss out on the chance to experience what possibly could be a future legend, and instead fly over to Europe for a M road trip adventure. Whether it's for one of our luxury driving holidays, or simply a rental to enjoy during your stay in one of Europe's beautiful countries, our team would be happy to assist in planning the perfect time behind the wheel of this superwagon.

The open road awaits...

Read more about the car on BMW M's official website