2023 BMW M3 Competition Touring review: Fast right out of the box

As we first announced in the middle of 2022, the new BMW M3 Competition Touring was indeed headed to Singapore and it got its official local launch at the 2023 Singapore Motorshow.

Like the M3 sedan, the M3 Touring is available in Singapore only in the top-specification Competition variant, and in essence, it's the BMW M3 with a lot more boot space.

At this point it's probably worthwhile noting that car manufacturers append big edition descriptors to car model names, like 'racing' and 'competition', to give the products a larger-than-life clout rather than expect you to actually register them for racing.

Which explains the 'Competition' tagged to the fastest of the M3 cars, with engines tuned to have 30 horsepower more than the standard specification versions. 

After all, racing engines need to be maintained after every event and no race car comes fitted with air-conditioning and a sound system. Surely that's not what most people expect from their luxury sports cars.  

Another thing of note is that this is the first-ever series production M3 Estate in BMW's history. That alone makes this car a very special one for sports car enthusiasts, giving it a lot more appeal over the M3 sedan in certain circles.

Under the bonnet, you'll find the same three-litre, twin-turbo inline six-cylinder engine that powers the other M3 cars and the M4 coupe, with 510hp on tap, and driving all four wheels through BMW's adaptive M xDrive all-wheel drive system.

There's only one flavour of gearbox available with the car in the form of an eight-speed automatic, and when all the chips are down the car accelerates from a standstill to 100km/h in a blindingly quick 3.6 seconds.

Externally, the car is all about pumped up wheel arches and that polarising, big intake grille. Its as showy as powerful M cars go, and there's a very purposeful, powerful stance to the car even when it's standing still. 

The boot has 500 litres of space in standard, rear seats in-use configuration, but expands to 1,510 litres with the rear bench folded down.

You do ultimately get more space in something like a BMW X3, or BMW iX3, but then you don't buy an M3 Touring just for cargo space. You buy the M3 Touring because you like BMW M cars, sports cars, unique cars, and can afford them.  

Like its sedan sibling the M3 Touring has an edgy, aggro vibe to the way it drives even when in its most sedate setting in the M Modes menu. It's distinctively different from the way something like a BMW M340i feels, primarily in just how taut the whole chassis and suspension setup is. 

The steering wheel has a rim that's sized just right for a good grip, and the cabin roof is actually slightly recessed inside for additional headroom, because many of these cars will undoubtedly be used in circuit sessions and you need that extra space to accommodate a driver wearing a helmet.

Red toggles switches on the steering wheel allow you to preset and store two custom driving modes that you can bring up with the flick of a thumb. In practice, you don't really need to go beyond the standard sport mode on public roads because the car's absolute dynamic ability requires a closed racetrack to be fully brought to the fore.

Needless to say it's quick in unprintable terms both through corners, when its adaptive all-wheel drive helps put the traction down confidently, and in straight lines where gaps in traffic closed up in the blink of an eye.

The sports exhaust has that classic, rorty BMW M car note, but you can also opt to switch it off with a button on the centre console when you want to be that little but quieter. 

It's strange to call this old-school in this time of electric cars, but as we have seen with the new BMW XM, the brand is finding innovative new ways to continue using internal combustion engines in this electric age.

Don't expect nice fuel economy in the M3 Touring however. With lots of highway cruising we saw 10.6l/100km. Getting stuck in slow traffic will return an average of around 13l/100km, and being naughty on the loud pedal a lot will bring this up to 15/100km.

Like the Porsche 911 and Mercedes-AMG C 63,  the BMW M3 is a landmark car in the sports car landscape, and no amount of tuning a lower model BMW 3 Series will bring it to the same level and prestige as the real deal.

The recent 2023 ARF tax hikes, have hit this luxury car segment hard, but from what we've heard the limited number of BMW M3 Touring examples slated for Singapore are already spoken for, so the legend lives on.   

BMW M3 Competition Touring xDrive

Drivetrain type	Petrol engine
Engine	2993cc, inline 6, twin-turbocharged
Power	510hp at 6250rpm
Torque	650Nm at 2750-5500rpm
Gearbox	8-speed automatic
0-100km/h	3.6 seconds
Top Speed	250km/h
Fuel Efficiency	10.3L/100km
VES Band	C2 / +S$25,000
Agent	Eurokars Auto / Performance Motors
Price	S$624,888 with COE and VES
Availability	Now
Verdict	The mighty BMW M3 still has that internal combustion magic, and the estate form makes it even more unique on local roads

ALSO READ: Kia reveals new all-electric Concept EV5

This article was first published in CarBuyer.