Between designing nonsensically large kidney grilles to locking heated seats behind a paid subscription, BMW catches a lot of flack these days—and justifiably so. However, those in Europe should prepare to forgive, forget and fork over some cash because the mad lads of Munich are actually doing the thing enthusiasts have begged them to do for decades. An M3 wagon is officially in the works, but infuriatingly, it won’t be imported to the United States.
Confirmed in a company press release, the BMW M3 Touring will be the very first M3 wagon to reach production in the model’s 34-year history. That being said, the M3 nameplate will probably be closer to 36 years old when the high-performance wagon arrives because it doesn’t sound like it’ll be ready for about another two years.
“In Garching near Munich, home of BMW M, work is being carried out on a further dream-come-true: For the first time in the history of BMW M, the model range will be complemented by a BMW M3 Touring,” the release reads. “The first BMW M3 Touring is still in the early stage of its approximate two-year series development process.”
The news of its absence from the U.S. market was first reported by MotorAuthority and later confirmed to The Drive by BMW.
With the new M3 Sedan and M4 Coupe scheduled to reveal next month and the M4 Convertible slated to debut next year, expect the Touring to drop a year after that in 2022—as if we all needed another reason to fast forward through the rest of 2020. In the meantime, BMW tantalizingly tells us and our spy photographers to keep our eyes peeled and cameras ready because M3 Touring test mules will start driving around its Garching development center and, of course, the Nürburgring very soon.
Powered by the same twin-turbo straight-six found in the X3 and X4 M crossovers, the upcoming M3 Sedan and M4 have been confirmed to get a manual transmission in the 480-horsepower regular models while the Competition guises will boast 510 hp and an eight-speed auto.
Garish nostril grilles be damned, an M3 Touring with the manual in brown would be great. Thanks for nothing, BMW.
To tide the rest of the world over until 2022, here’s a picture of the ultra-cool E46 M3 Touring Concept that was built for laughs 20 years ago.
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