Practical gets faster as BMW unleashes M3 CS Touring

Having made the G80 iteration of the M3 available as the first ever to offer an estate last year, BMW has now removed the wraps from the second rendition in the form of the M3 CS Touring.

Second to the M3 as the most powerful combustion engine estate Munich’s M division has ever made, the limited edition CS builds on the sedan introduced nearly two years ago with the same power output and specifications, wrapped in the exterior of the Touring.

CS exterior changes

Set to make its public debut at this weekend’s Bathurst 12 Hours in Australia, the M3 CS Touring’s exterior differences from the regular M3 Touring consists of matte black or gold bronze 19-inch at the front and 20-inch at the rear M light alloy wheels, a frameless M3 CS specific kidney grille with red pinstriping and black accents, M3 CS badges and yellow bulb Laserlight LED headlights.

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As with the sedan, the Touring makes extensive carbon fibre to reduce weight by a claimed 15 kg over the normal M3 Touring.

This involves the mirror caps, side skirts, front lip spoiler, diffuser, rear apron, bonnet and side intakes all being made from carbon fibre, but not the roof as a result of the estate bodystyle.

A model specific roof spoiler and red bordered M3 CS badge on the tailgate completes the exterior, along with a choice of red or black painted M Compound brake calipers and four colours; Frozen White, Laguna Seca Blue, British Racing Green and Sapphire Black Metallic.

Dynamically altered

Underneath, the CS’ chassis revisions from the conventional M3 Touring involve the electronically controlled adaptive M dampers, retuned M Servotronic power steering, a titanium exhaust system, the same die-cast aluminium strut brace as the sedan and the optional M Carbon ceramic brakes identified by either red or gold calipers.

Also from the sedan are the revised anti-roll bars, dampers, springs and axle kinematics, recalibrated software for the Dynamic Stability Control system and standard inclusion of the Active M differential.

Inside

Inside, the Touring’s similarities with the sedan continue as it gets the M graphics, menus and layouts within the 14.9-inch iDrive infotainment system and 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, the carbon fibre inlays and 12 o’clock marking on the Alcantara-wrapped steering wheel, the anthracite roofliner and the illuminated M3 CS door sills.

Completing the interior are the M seat belts; CS badges on the centre console, black leather door panels and the heated and electric M Carbon bucket seats trimmed in Merino leather with carbon backrests, black-and-red stitching and illuminated M3 CS badges integrated into the headrests.

As with the standard M3 Touring, the CS’ main gain over the sedan is practicality, with boot space ranging from 500-litres to 1 510-litres with the rear seats folded down.

Power shot

Up front, the M3 CS Touring boasts the uprated S58 3.0-litre turbocharged straight-six with outputs of 405kW/650Nm.

An uptake of 30 kW over the normal M3 with torque being the same, the added grunt translates to a limited top speed of 300 km/h with the M Driver’s Package selected, 0-100 km/h in 3.5 seconds and 0-200 km/h in 11.7 seconds.

Sending the amount of twist to all four wheels or the rears only in 2WD mode falls to the ZF-sourced eight-speed Steptronic gearbox.

Coming in 2026

On-sale in key markets from March, BMW South Africa has confirmed local market availability, but only from the first quarter of 2026 in undisclosed limited numbers.

Once out, expect a substantial premium over the standard M3 Touring that retails from R2 218 506.

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