Another day, another Nurburgring-Nordschleife lap record has been set. This time, it’s the BMW M3 CS Touring’s turn, with an official lap time of 7:29.490 minutes around the full 20.8 km circuit, cementing it as the fastest estate car – or “wagon” – to ever lap the notorious “Green Hell.”
Behind the wheel of the record-setting M3 CS Touring was BMW M development engineer, Jörg Weidinger, who broke the previous record of 7:35.060 minutes set by the standard BMW M3 Touring in 2022.
With the new lap record, the BMW M3 CS Touring joins its record-breaking stablemates, such as the BMW M4 CSL (7:18.137 minutes), the BMW M4 CS (7:21.989 minutes), and the BMW M3 CS sedan (7:28.760 minutes). Pretty impressive for an estate car with space for the family and luggage, coming in only about one second behind its sedan siblings.
Powering the M3 CS Touring is the same 3.0-litre twin-turbocharged six-cylinder engine found in the M3 CS sedan. It features several tweaks over the base M3 Competition, including a forged lightweight crankshaft, a 3D-printed cylinder head core, a revised cooling and oil supply system, and increased turbo boost pressure.
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These changes contribute to a higher power output of 551 hp, compared to 510 hp in the standard M3 Touring, while torque remains unchanged at 650 Nm. This enables the M3 CS Touring to accelerate from 0-100 km/h in 3.5 seconds and onwards to a top speed of 300 km/h with the M Driver’s Package.
Aside from the usual carbon fibre-reinforced plastic (CFRP) components for weight reduction, the highlight of the BMW M3 CS Touring is its estate body style. This enables a boot space of 500 litres, which can be expanded to 1,510 litres to carry your family and their luggage for a quick road trip around the racetrack.
Prices for the BMW M3 CS Touring start in Europe at EUR152,900 (approx. RM798k) before options. If you want to have one in your car park, you’d better be quick, as the M3 CS Touring is a limited-run model.
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