The customer is always right. When BMW said it was going racing with the M3 Touring on April 1st of 2025, it was a joke, an impossibility, a marketing stunt, little more than a flight of fancy to get people thinking about BMW. But then BMW saw how successful that little joke was in getting people to think about BMW, and it decided to do the darned thing for realsies. For the incredible 24 Hours of Nürburgring this May, BMW M has developed a “BMW M3 Touring 24H” race car as one of its entries. Unlike its German compatriot, which never actually changed its name to Voltswagen, BMW has the gumption to actually follow through on its April Fool’s gags if they get enough attention.
The BMW M3 Touring 24H will be fielded in the 24 Hour race by Schubert Motorsport, and driven by a quartet of BMW factory-supported racers: Germany’s Jens Klingmann, Belgian driver Ugo de Wilde, and the two Americans, Connor De Phillippi, and Neil Verhagen. Because the car wasn’t homologated in longroof form as an FIA GT3 racing car, the M3 Touring 24H will have to compete in the experimental SPX class, rather than the top-flight SP9 category for GT3-legal cars. Though it is still technically eligible for the overall victory.
Underneath this big back bodywork, the BMW M3 Touring 24H is essentially mechanically the same as the company’s current two-door coupe BMW M4 GT3 Evo. Both will be motivated by a 590-ish-horsepower twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-6 engine, transmitting power to the rear wheels through a 6-speed Xtrac sequential manual gearbox. The wagon version of the race car is about 7.9 inches longer than the two-door, and its wing sits an inch and a quarter higher. It’s possible the higher wing in clean air could provide more downforce for the wagon, but that could also equate to more drag on the track’s long Döttinger Höhe straight.
Big Back Bimmer
While the car was built and prepared for the 24 Hours of Nürburgring in May, it will make its on-track debut at the ‘Ring this weekend for the second round of the Nürburgring Langstreken-Serie. NLS round 1 was cancelled due to snow and ice conditions in Nürburg, though things seem to have cleared up ahead of this weekend’s four-hour endurance event.
BMW has shown off the car in an initial testing livery, which shows consumer responses to last year’s April Fools gag, telling BMW to build the very car they have built. The livery also includes a message from BMW to potential customers, “You dreamed it. We built it!” Another livery will be shown off when the car rolls out of the trailer at the race track this weekend, and it seems likely BMW will run a third livery for the big 24 hour race itself.
Andreas Roos (Head of BMW M Motorsport): “A project like the BMW M3 Touring 24H has never existed at BMW M Motorsport before. Many thanks to everyone who put their heart and soul into this unique car and brought it to life. I am thrilled – and at the same time, I am certain that our fans, who are never closer to us than at our second home on the Nürburgring, will be just as excited. I promise all fans a great show and look forward to an event of superlatives.”
There aren’t any half-measures on this car, and it has been prepared to the same exacting standards as the other three BMW M4 GT3s entered in the race. In addition to the BMW M3 Touring 24H race car, Schubert Motorsport will run the #77 M4 GT3 Evo for Marco Wittmann, Charles Weerts, Philipp Eng, and Robin Frijns. This will be Schubert’s first time back at the 24H race since 2022. Two additional BMW M4 GT3 Evos have been entered by 2025 Nürburgring 24H champs Rowe Racing. The #1 car will see Augusto Farfus, Kelvin van der Linde, Raffaele Marciello, and Jordan Pepper attempt to defend Rowe’s title, while the #99 entry will be piloted by Sheldon van der Linde, Dries Vanthoor, Max Hesse, and Dan Harper.
