By Otsile Kadiege

The growing demand for Sports Utility Vehicles in South Africa have somewhat put station wagons on the backfoot, resulting in some local manufactures shying away from selling the body type. BMW South Africa is one of the automakers who have axed their 3 Series and 5 Series Touring models from Mzansi. In fact, the last Touring model that was on sale in SA was the E91 3 Series Touring. Decades later, BMW South Africa will soon introduce the M3 Competition Touring, which is the automaker’s first-ever M3 station wagon and has its eyes solely set on Audi’s RS4 Avant.

Polarising exterior design

Much of the polarising exterior design has been carried over from its sedan sibling. Upfront, it still sports the topical frame-less kidney grille with horizontal slats and M3 Competition badging. The grille is flanked by LED headlights with optional BMW Laserlight Technology. The lower front bumper also features large air intakes for optimum inflow.

The BMW M3 Touring brings model-specific tweaks to the design of the base car’s roof and rear-end giving the M3 Touring a standalone visual identity within the model range and beyond. At 4,794mm, it’s 85mm longer than the G21 3 Series Touring. It’s also 76mm wider (1,903mm) and 4mm lower (1,436mm). It’s fitted with staggered 19- and 20-inch light alloy wheels at the front and rear respectively. The M-specific forged wheels in double-spoke design come as standard in Jet Black or optionally in bi-colour Jet Black with diamond polished spoke and rim flange faces.

The rear of the M3 Competition Touring boasts a large carbon fibre diffuser with large M quad exhaust pipes. The high-performance Touring model has a separately opening rear window. Customers can opt for the 50years of BMW M emblems which replace the standard BMW emblems.

Practical high-performance car

Climbing aboard the M3 Competition Touring, much of the interior design and technology has been lifted from the G80 sedan model. However, the G81 features an integrated BMW Curved Display with a 12.3-inch information display and a 14.9-inch control display.

The displays are running on the BMW’s Operating System 8 and also features M-specific menus and graphics. When it comes to seating and interior materials customers can opt for a full-leather interior trim and M Carbon bucket seats with illuminated model badges integrated into the head restraints. Being a Touring model, BMW’s first-ever M3 wagon has to be practical. It has a large 500 litre luggage capacity which can be increased to 1,510 litres by folding down the rear seats.

Performance

Like its G80 sibling the M3 Touring is powered by a 3.0-litre straight-six engine making 375kW and 650Nm. The high-revving engine is paired to an 8-speed M Steptronic transmission with M Drivelogic as standard. BMW claims that it will accelerate from zero to 100km/h in 3.6 seconds thanks to the M xDrive all-wheel drive system.

It has a top speed of 250km/h or 280km/h with the M Driver’s Package. The M3 Competition Touring is fitted with BMW’s Adaptive M Suspension with electronically controlled dampers. Standard braking power comes in the form of ventilated M Compound brakes with six-piston fixed calipers upfront and ventilated M Compound brakes with single-piston floating calipers at the rear.

Pricing and availability

The M3 Competition Touring will be available in SA later on this year and will be priced from R2,195,000.

Source: cars.co.za