A little under a year ago, BMW published concept images of an M3 sports wagon reimagined as a GT3-inspired race car.
So positive was the reception that the German marque decided to bring it to life.
“Shortly after the market launch of the BMW M3 Touring road car in 2022, BMW M Motorsport began considering the idea of building a racing version as well,” BMW explained.
“However, it took a special key moment to turn the idea of parallel engineers into a concrete plan – and that moment was, of all things, an April Fools’ joke.
“On 1st April 2025, BMW M Motorsport posted images on its social media platforms of a supposedly in-development BMW M3 Touring GT race car.
“The response from fans and the media to this post was overwhelming.
“It reached more than one million users and generated over 1.6 million views.
“Engagement on the posts was also many times higher than the usual figures for BMW M Motorsport’s social media channels.”
BMW built the M3 Touring 24H in just eight months. The car shares the same technical base as the BMW M4 GT3 EVO.
Soon, the car will make its debut at the Nordschleife as part of the Nürburgring Langstrecken Serie (NLS).
The car will be raced by Jens Klingmann, Ugo de Wilde, Connor De Phillippi, and Neil Verhagen in the SPX class and run by Schubert Motorsport.
The sports wagon is 200mm longer than its M4 GT3 counterpart, including its enormous rear wing. It is also 32mm higher than the M4 GT3.
For its debut, the car will carry comments left by fans on April Fool’s Day in a nod to them for convincing BMW to produce the race car.
“A project like the BMW M3 Touring 24H has never existed at BMW M Motorsport before,” said BMW M Motorsport boss Andreas Roos.
“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.”
Klingmann added: “This is truly a unique project, and I am absolutely delighted to be a part of it.
“The fact that we took our fans’ reactions to an April Fools’ joke as an opportunity to actually make the BMW M3 Touring 24H a reality speaks to our closeness to our community and our enthusiasm for motorsport.
“It has to be said clearly that the car may have started as an April Fools’ joke, but it has become an absolutely top-class and competitive race car.
“Our goal is to put on a great show for the spectators at the Nürburgring and to finish the race as far up front as possible. I am convinced that we can achieve a top result.”
NLS2 takes place on March 21.
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