The super station wagon won’t be an authentic left foot drift machine.

The M3 Touringis one of the most anticipated performance cars in recent memory. BMW knows that Audi has achieved significant success and customer loyalty with its RS4 Avant and wants a share of that business.

The main question has been how the Touring will differ in specification from its two- and four-door BMW M3 and M4 siblings.

BMW’s latest generation of M3/4 aren’t lightweight performance cars,by any standard. And the M3 Touring’s additional glass and metal aft section are sure to increase weight.

Not only will the long roof structure add kilograms to the vehicle’s overall mass, but as with all modern luxury vehicles, there will have to be a lot of sound-insulating material.

A station wagon’s open load area creates the problem of greater acoustic intrusion into the cabin, compared to a sedan or coupe, with the majority of its wheel arch vibration resonating into a boot, which is sealed off from the passenger cabin area.

What the M3 Touring will gain in weight, it should compensate for in truly brilliant loabability. The M3 Touring should be an even more practical M-car with a much lower load sill than BMW’s X3 M.

BMW has not confirmed the exact production specification for M3 Touring. Still, all indications are that the camouflage validation vehicles running around the Nurburgring, are all-wheel drive and equipped with eight-speed automatic transmissions.

The business case for an M3 Touring most definitely exists, but product planners at BMW are cautious of possibly diluting the demand for their six-speed manual M3 sedan, in rear-wheel drive.

To prevent cannibalization of the sedan, M3 Touring will not offer a six-speed manual gearbox or rear-wheel drive, leaving that purist set-up for M3 sedan owners. Speed won’t be an issue for M3 Touring owners, as it is expected to be powered by the high-output 375 kW engine option.

Considering the additional loadability of the Touring, it makes sense to only offer it in automatic and with all-wheel drive, as this rapid station wagon is the M3 variant most likely to venture onto snowy Alpine or high Eastern Cape roads, fully loaded.

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