BMW M3 CS Touring Mixes Raw Pace With Relaxed Daily Comforts

The BMW M3 CS Touring delivers a rare blend of outright firepower and real-world usability, proving that estate practicality and genuine driving engagement can happily share the same chassis. BMW’s engineers have nudged every key area—engine, suspension, aerodynamics and weight—just enough to create a car that feels sharper on a circuit while riding with greater suppleness than the already capable M3 Competition Touring on everyday roads.

Visual tweaks announce its intent long before the start button is pressed. A more open kidney grille, larger carbon splitter and sculpted carbon bonnet set an assertive tone, while staggered lightweight alloy wheels wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres fill the arches. Carbon bucket seats and a pared-back centre console shave mass inside, yet the cabin still accommodates five adults and the full 500-litre boot remains intact.

Under the bonnet, the 3.0-litre twin-turbo straight-six now produces 542 bhp and 650 Nm, channelled through an eight-speed automatic to all four wheels. Subtle chassis revisions—slightly firmer springs, retuned dampers, rose-jointed anti-roll-bar links and stiffer engine mounts—work with the extra power to give the CS unflappable poise. On a British B-road, it tracks cleanly over broken surfaces, and on track it turns in crisply, brakes with conviction and fires out of bends with relentless traction, the titanium exhaust adding a harder-edged soundtrack.

Perhaps the biggest surprise is comfort. Low-speed fidget is dialled back compared with the standard car; side-to-side movement over larger undulations is reduced, and despite the aggressive rubber, road noise is kept in check. The driving position remains a touch high for some tastes, and the pronounced thigh support on the seat base splits opinion, yet these niggles fade once the road opens up.

Capable of carrying a family, their luggage and a set of spare wheels to a track day before demolishing lap times usually reserved for low-slung sports cars, the BMW M3 CS Touring shows just how versatile a modern performance estate can be. It may be the ultimate expression of “have your cake and eat it” engineering—an everyday car with the heart of a racer.