BMW M3 CS Touring Breaks Nürburgring Record For Estate Cars

BMW’s new M3 CS Touring has rewritten the handbook for fast load-luggers, lapping the Nürburgring-Nordschleife in 7 minutes 29.490 seconds and becoming the quickest estate ever to tackle the 20.8-kilometre loop. Development ace Jörg Weidinger threaded the car through the ‘Green Hell’ to eclipse the previous Touring benchmark by more than five seconds, underlining how comprehensively Munich’s latest special has fused outright pace with everyday practicality.

Key to the achievement is a 3.0-litre twin-turbo straight-six tuned to 550 hp and 650 Nm, paired with an eight-speed M Steptronic gearbox and rear-biased xDrive. Carbon-fibre panels, lightweight forged wheels and a titanium rear silencer trim mass by 15 kg, while bespoke spring, damper and anti-roll bar calibrations keep nearly two tonnes of estate bodywork pinned flat through the circuit’s notorious cambers and crests. Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 rubber provides the bite, hauling the wagon from Hatzenbach to Döttinger Höhe with sports-car conviction before hauling children and shopping the following morning.

BMW’s long-standing test base beside the Nordschleife allowed engineers to fine-tune every element, from engine mounts to brake software, under the same punishing conditions that face the 24-hour racers. The result is a machine capable of 0–62 mph in 3.5 seconds and 300 km/h at the top end, yet still offering 500 litres of luggage space and three rear seats once the lap timer stops.

This record solidifies the CS Touring’s claim as the consummate “one-car solution”. It carries the family, devours a track day and cruises across continents without compromise, proving that an estate body need not surrender an ounce of BMW M’s revered circuit prowess.

With the bar now set at 7:29.5, rivals will need to dig deep to match the breadth of ability baked into this most versatile member of the M3 and M4 clan. For now, the crown stays firmly in Bavaria.