BMW M3 Touring Leaks Ahead Of Reveal

It's been nearly 20 years since there was any hope of a BMW M3 with a wagon grafted to the back of it. Back then, the idea of a naturally aspirated, rear-wheel drive sports car with a practical wagon (or touring in BMW-speak) body was enough to get anyone salivating. Alas, the E46 M3 Touring wasn't meant to be.

Fast forward 18 or so years, and hope is restored. No, it's not naturally aspirated or RWD, but during the dawn of the electric car, we'll take what wins we can get. Now, you can feast your eyes upon that win, sans-camo, for the first time.

Upon first look, it looks a lot like you'd expect the new M3 Touring to look. BMW has clearly kept as much of the M3's... let's say distinctive styling in place. And yes, that includes the infamous new BMW grille. As for the "Touring" part of the new wagon's name, its design is very similar to the idea of the original E46 M3 Touring, with a wagon's roofline and a hatch grafted onto the back.

Reports indicate that if (big if) the new M3 Touring makes its way stateside, it'll be in the form of a top-tier Competition spec car. Like all current US-spec M3 Comp cars, that means no manual transmission and no rear-wheel drive. Instead, the new Bimmer wagon will use BMW's xDrive system, something we quite liked in the BMW M240i we had on test.

While we do bemoan the loss of the RWD/manual combo, its hard to be upset at a 503 hp station wagon you can use every day and take to the track. Should this new BMW M3 Touring make its way stateside, it'll certainly be putting the Audi RS6 Avant on notice. It's up to you which one you think is prettier.