BMW M3 Touring 2023 Review

The first five-door BMW M3 doesn’t come cheap, with pricing starting at $180,100 plus on-road costs.

That’s only $2300 more than the Competition xDrive sedan on which it’s based, however, which is a relatively small premium.

The 2023 BMW M3 Touring is substantially more expensive than its main competitor, the Audi RS4 Avant listed at $157,600 plus ORCs, though the forthcoming Performance variant of that car will close the gap.

Fast premium wagons are now sadly an endangered species, with the Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo really the only other contender of note.

Of course, there are more SUV rivals than you can poke a turbocharger at, but if you’re shopping for a wagon there’s a good chance you’re desperately trying to avoid an SUV.

The 2023 BMW M3 Touring is loaded with equipment, including staggered alloy wheels (19s front, 20s rear), keyless entry/start, heated seats/steering wheel, carbon-fibre interior trim, triple-zone climate control, a Harman Kardon stereo, ‘Merino’ leather upholstery, power tailgate and plenty more.

Despite the level of standard kit, you still have plenty of decisions to make. Nine colours are no-cost options, whereas two Individual colours are an extra $2500, four ‘Frozen’ (matte) colours are $5000 and Frozen Brilliant White is $7000.

Four interior colour combos are no-cost options while another four attract a $1000 charge, but the four wheel designs are no extra.

Where you will need to delve deeply into your pockets is for the $16,500 carbon-ceramic brakes or the $17,500 M Carbon Experience, which includes carbon bucket seats that save 9.6kg, carbon exterior trim, a top-speed increase from 250 to 280km/h and vouchers for Level 1 and 2 BMW M Driving Experience.

Our test car had neither option package and was none the worse for it.

The M3 Touring is covered by BMW’s standard five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty and servicing is $4436 over the first five years, with condition-based servicing meaning the car will prompt you for attention depending on how it’s being driven.

There’s no official safety rating for the 2023 BMW M3 Touring – M variants are excluded from their base vehicles’ safety scores – but it comes with everything you’d expect from a premium car in terms of active safety equipment.

There’s active cruise control with stop-and-go functionality, lane keep assist and departure warning, cross traffic alert, driver attention monitoring, traffic sign recognition, autonomous emergency braking (AEB) and auto high beam, as well as a 360-degree camera and park assist.

The only issue is that BMW’s lane detection systems tend to be on the conservative side, frequently nudging the steering when no real intervention is required.

Better safe than sorry, but it can get quite annoying.

Infotainment in the 2023 BMW M3 Touring is handled by iDrive 8 that’s rolled out across virtually the entire BMW range, though will soon be superseded by 8.5 and even 9 in some models by the end of 2023.

Regardless, it’s an impressive and at times intimidating system in its scope, but with a bit of practice it’s relatively easily navigated. Though if you’re anything like me the search function will be a lifesaver to save wading through endless menus.

Most will use the wireless smartphone mirroring (Apple CarPlay and Android Auto) but there’s also app connectivity, ‘Hey BMW’ voice activation, a personal assistant, live traffic for the satellite navigation and much more.

It’s an increasingly common complaint with most manufacturers but BMW sandwiching the climate controls into the touch-screen is irritating. The climate control screen is accessed with one tap but it’s still making a three- or four-step process out of what used to be one-button push.

The right-hand side of the giant curved display is dedicated to the digital instruments, which can be configured using the buttons of the right steering wheel spoke along with the contents of the head-up display.

It’s a little bit fiddly but becomes easier with practice.

There’s nothing particularly newsworthy here. The 2023 BMW M3 Touring uses the same S58 3.0-litre twin-turbocharged six-cylinder petrol engine as the Competition sedan and convertible, which equates to 375kW and 650Nm.

An eight-speed automatic is the only gearbox choice and all-wheel drive is standard (though switchable, which we’ll get to), making for a brisk 3.6sec 0-100km/h sprint.

Top speed is 280km/h if you select the aforementioned M Driver’s Package, otherwise you’re stuck in the slow lane at a mere 250km/h.

As usual with a performance car, fuel economy will vary dramatically depending on how much restraint you have with your right foot.

The claimed combined figure of 10.4L/100km for the 2023 BMW M3 Touring is achievable if you’re trundling around and the M3 is relatively frugal on a highway cruise.

Delve deep into its performance, however, and the 59-litre fuel tank can disappear in short order. It can accept 95RON fuel but 98RON is preferred and recommended in an engine this potent.

If you’re at all concerned that adding family-friendly practicality would dilute the M3 driving experience then let me put your mind at ease – the 2023 BMW M3 Touring is a certified, A-grade weapon.

It’s undeniably heavy and you can feel that mass in certain circumstances, but by and large it’s just, well, awesome. The engine is monstrous, not a razor-sharp, high-revving masterpiece like M3s past, but brutally powerful.

No doubt some will take issue with an automatic gearbox, but its changes are very nearly dual-clutch swift and its stop-start behaviour is far more refined than the previous generation’s DCT ’box.

All-wheel drive endows the M3 Touring with plenty of traction in all conditions should you want it, but selecting ‘4WD Sport’ drastically increases the rearward bias in an effort to entertain. It’s almost too eager, as throttle inputs can sharply rotate the car and require swift correction if you aren’t ready for it.

With some familiarity it allows you to still steer the Touring with the throttle, though if you fancy yourself a true wheelsmith you can always select rear-wheel drive, which also activates the clever 10-stage traction control.

There isn’t a massive amount of communication through the steering and brakes, but the grip levels are such that you can drive on faith as you’re rarely, if ever, going to broach them on the public road.

Every now and then you might slightly overcommit and think something is going to happen – a shimmy, a slight loss of grip – only for the corner to be negotiated with minimal fuss. If this sounds slightly prescriptive, it’s not; this is an engaging and entertaining performance car.

Arguably the most interesting comparison for the M3 Touring is BMW’s own deeply impressive X3 M Competition, which uses a very similar drivetrain and doesn’t actually weigh that much more.

But the M3 offers so much more control and agility, the perfect advertisement for the benefits of a lower centre of gravity.

The other upside of the AWD/auto combo is that the M3 Touring is – importantly – a painless everyday companion.

The torquey engine and torque-converter gearbox makes it very easy to drive, the ride is firm but should elicit few complaints, there is quite a bit of road noise thanks to its focused chassis set-up, but most people will find it an amenable daily driver.

The 2023 BMW M3 Touring has decent luxury chops as well as plenty of performance cred, the interior being of high quality with lots of leather and carbon-fibre.

There are also nice touches like the grippy material on the back of the carbon shift paddles, which also have little ‘+’ and ‘-’ cut into them.

In the second row there’s sufficient space for adults as long as they aren’t too large and there’s separate temperature controls for the air-con, USB-C ports for device charging and ISOFIX points on the outboard seats for the kiddie chairs.

Arguably the most important part of the M3 Touring is the luggage space – after all, if you don’t need the room, just get the sedan – but the useful 500-litre space is similar to the Audi RS4 Avant, a little less than the X3, but there are a couple of cubby holes under the floor for extra storage.

There was a tremendous amount of pre-launch hype around the 2023 BMW M3 Touring and the easiest way to sum the car up is thus: if you were excited at the prospect of a five-door M3, rest assured it’s as good as you thought (hoped?) it would be.

Given its underpinnings, it might not be too surprising that the M3 Touring is good. But what is perhaps surprising is that it feels special, like more than the sum of its parts.

Trying to pinpoint why is a bit like trying to catch fog – it’s ‘the vibe’ to quote Dennis Denuto from The Castle – but part of it might be the wistful reflection that 375kW wagons that can do everything from the school run on Friday to fourth-gear powerslides on track on Saturday might be few and far between going forward.

If you have the means, get one while you can.

2023 BMW M3 Touring at a glance:
Price: $180,100 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder twin-turbo petrol
Output: 375kW/650Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 10.4L/100km (WLTP Combined)
CO2: 235g/km (WLTP Combined)
Safety rating: Not tested